Admiration
by VintageLove69
Summary: Dr. Rowan Lily-Ann Kennedy is by most standards, a genius. When she is finally recruited by the FBI:BAU, she instantly falls into place amongst the crowd. She catches the eye of the one and only Dr. Spencer Reid. This is their story. From love, exploration of lust, loss, grief and recovery. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

The group briefing was nearly finished just as Aaron Hotchner saw one last note he had on his agenda.

Tell team about Kennedy

The note was scribble in his normal, sloppish handwriting. He looked at the note for a moment before deciding on how to break it to everyone.

"One last thing," Hotch said as all eyes were on him. He saw raised eyebrows and interested faces peer at him.

"We've been assigned a new team member. Her name is Dr. Rowan Kennedy. She has outstanding credentials. She still resides near the city that we will be investigating at. She is meeting us there to help with the case than she will be relocated here. She will be our youngest member but I expect everyone to treat her with respect."

He let the news sink into the minds of his coworkers. He observed the various faces they were making.

"Finally a little bit more girl power in the group!" Jennifer Jareau, AKA JJ, said with a chuckle, nudging Emily Prentiss, her only female co worker that was in the field all the time. She wished Penelope Garcia would be allowed on more cases.

"Not just a little." Hotch said, almost smiling to himself. It seems as if they had a brilliant mind coming to their team, a mind to impress and challenge their very own Dr. Spencer Reid.

"What do you mean?" Dave Rossi asked his boss and friend. Aaron twitched a smile. Rossi nodded. Dr. Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan exchanged looks. Derek had a small smile creeping on his lips, almost knowingly.

"You all will meet her once we land. Wheels up in 30." Hotch said, leaving the room without another word.

The only two left in the room after the gentlemen left, were Emily and JJ.

"Hotch said youngest member. But he also said Dr. Do you think the FBI recruited Spencer's

soulmate without knowing it?" Emily joked, sort of.

"We can only hope." JJ chuckled in response.

"Good morning, Dr. Kennedy. I'm Aaron Hotchner and this is Dave Rossi. Welcome aboard." The young doctor received a smile from the usually cold SSA, and an even warmer smile from the older and quite obviously, Italian man. They each exchanged handshakes with the young doctor.

"It's nice to finally meet you! Both of you. You can call me Rowan or just Kennedy if you'd like." Dr. Rowan Kennedy smiled. Her inviting, golden brown eyes shimmered in the Nevada sun. The warmth on her skin made her feel so much better about her nerves.

"Follow us inside and we'll introduce you. Did you read the case file?" Hotch asked just before turning on his heel. Rowan thanked herself for wearing flats, these men walked fast and heels weren't her strong suit anyway.

"I did. I read over the file and the notes the technical analyst added as well." Rowan finished her sentence as they three agents entered the office of the Nevada Sheriff's Department.

An officer, presumably the sheriff, shook the hand of all three agents.

"I know it's not much but it's a place of hang your hats." The Sheriff started with a smile. Rowan took in her surrounding quickly. She spotted a friendly, pregnant blonde woman.

"All we need is a table and an evidence board." Hotch informed, looking at the small space they were provided.

"Sheriff, if you wouldn't mind, some of us would like to go to the crime scene." Rossi started, wanting to dive right in on the investigation.

"I can have a deputy take you. Rebecca Galan's father is coming in to claim the bodies." Sheriff said, his voice sounded a tad bit upset.

"Let us take care of that." Hotch offered.

"I appreciate that. I'll drive you myself."

"Do you have any aerial photos of the crash sites?" Rowan asked, attention was turned to her. She felt like she stepped out of place. It was only her very first case. Maybe she should just watch the madness unfold.

"We didn't think to get any."

"Good idea, Dr. Kennedy. We can have our technical analyst get some from the NSA. It'd be good to see what the areas surrounding the highway were like." Rossi backed Rowan up. She breathed in relief.

"Kennedy, you're with JJ and I for now." Hotch said. The small but pregnant blonde smiled at Rowan softly.

"You must be Dr. Kennedy. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm agent Jareau, but you can call me JJ." JJ smiled, even brighter for the young doctor.

"The pleasure is all mine, JJ. My first name is Rowan if you'd like to call me that." Rowan smiled at all of the kind greetings she had gotten so far.

Hotch lead the two female agents to the evidence board, where there was a tall man with longish brown hair pinning photos and maps to the board. Rowan studied the man for a split second before he turned around. His cheekbones were high and jawline define, but not in an overly muscular way.

"Dr. Kennedy, I'd like you to meet Dr. Reid. Our resident genius." JJ smiled. The man looked at Rowan and smiled kindly. Rowan returned the smile, as well as a blush creeping up her cheeks.

Rowan kicked herself mentally. \

Honestly, the first day of her new job at the FBI was not the time to check out the attractive, yet adorably dorky looking doctor.

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Kennedy." Spencer smiled. Like actually smiled.

All it took was one look at the new member. Her fair skin was painted elegantly with small freckles. A reddish tint to her brown to semi-blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight that leaked in from the outside. Honey brown eyes looked him over and he also felt a blush on his cheeks. Hotch spoke, snapping them both out of it.

"The first victims, Fritz and Joanna Dietrich were found 10 days ago, visiting from Germany." Hotch spoke as Spencer continued to pin things to the board.

"Their accident site was on highway 50 just south of Tahoe." Spencer looked up at the group again, trying not to make his, unusual, attraction to the younger doctor obvious.

"Second couple, Melissa and Tom Taylor, were from Oregon. They were found on the 267, northeast of Tahoe, Not far from the interstate." Hotch looked into the case file once more.

"It's right here." Spender added a pin to represent each crash site.

"And the latest victims, Jonathan and Rebecca Gallen, were from Arizona. Their accident occurred between Reno and Carson city on highway 395." Rowan looked at the map as Spencer placed his pins. "All three couples were staying in the area without reservations." She added.

"And the only transactions on their credit cards Were from gas stations hundred of miles away." Hotch voice perplexed.

"The only common theme here is that there is no paper trail. If no one can contact them or trace them, They become the perfect victims." Spencer's voice trailed off as if he was distracted.

"Rebecca Galan's father is going to be here soon." JJ started as she looked at her watch.

"I'll take Rowan with me to talk to him. He may be able to help us." Hotch nods to JJ and Spencer as he leads Rowan away.

Once they were out of earshot, JJ spoke up.

"She's pretty, isn't she?" JJ said and she noticed Spencer shift oddly.

"I-I, she. Uhm she's nice." Spencer felt that damn heat in his cheeks again.

"Mhm." She chuckled. "If you think she's pretty, why don't you talk to her once she's in Quantico?"

"Jayge, I appreciate your hopes for me but I could never talk to her. At least not in that way. I'd say the likelihood of anything going beyond a coffee or a casual conversation are-"

"Spence, don't count yourself out just yet." JJ smiled and Spencer contemplated.

1 minute and 27 seconds worth of interaction was not enough to even begin to know someone but it was enough to want to…

Hotch lead Rebecca Galan's father and Rowan into a conference room before lightly closing the door behind them.

"Mr. Sanders, I'm very sorry That you have to be here under these circumstances." Hotch said, his voice sincere.

"No father should have to claim his daughter's dead body." Mr. Sanders' voice was unstable and his eyes red.

"You're also here for your son-In-Law Jon, correct?" Rowan questioned the man.

"Uh, I'm gonna I need a full copy of that accident report. We're suing that truck driver and his employer."

"Mr. Sanders, your daughter and son-In-Law were hit by the tractor trailer, But that's not how they died." Hotch confessed.

"What are you talking about?"

"They were dead hours before the collision with the tractor trailer, Mr. Sanders." Rowan's voice did not falter, but she knew this was not information they were supposed to be relaying. However, she trusted Hotch.

"No. The police told us they died in the accident." His voice becoming more and more alert and confused.

"Yes, sir. I understand that. We had to wait for the autopsy results. And they confirmed that they had been murdered." At Hotch's words, Mr. Sanders retired to the red couch that was in the small room. "Sir, I do understand how hard this is. We believe Rebecca and Jon are the third couple to die in these circumstances."

"Who would want to kill my baby?" Mr. Sanders' words hurt Rowan's heart.

She was not a mother and couldn't possibly understand what he was going through as a parents, but her heart hurt for him and his loss.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sanders but we have a couple of questions." Rowan began. "We found camping equipment in the back of Jon's car."

"Yeah, yeah. He was real big on the outdoors. This time he had to drag her along with him."

"Do you know where he liked to camp?"

"No."

"Where he liked to hike?"

"I don't know."

"Did he ever bring Rebecca souvenirs? T-Shirts from anywhere?"

"I don't know."

"How about restaurants? Places he liked to eat?"

"My baby has a... Had a sweet tooth. And, uh... Jon would always bring her back these donuts."

"We found a matchbook from a diner...flo's? Does that ring a bell?" Rowan asked, remembering the case notes.

"Maybe. I can't be sure. It was a real popular place. But... He always brought some back for her."

"Thank you."

Rowan knelt down to be on level with Mr. Sanders.

"This will not be easy. That I can promise. But as long as you never forget about much you loved each other, you will heal." Rowan said gently. Mr. Sanders looked into her eyes. His heart was touched by the kindness in them.

"Thank you, agent." He said, wiping a tear from his eyes.

As they exited the room, Hotch got a call. She joined JJ and Spencer.

"We have a witness who can put the Gallens at a diner in Sherwood." Hotch quickly put his phone away and circled a section of the map.

"So it's possible they were staying close by." JJ started. Spencer dialed a number on the phone very quickly. The dial tone rang and the call was picked up.

"I thought you forgot about me. It hurt." Rowan heard a friendly female voice and smiled.

"Garcia, what information do you have on Sherwood, Nevada?" Spencer leaned over and spoke into the phone, that was on speaker.

"Uhh...Sherwood. A lovely town that is east of lake Tahoe Near the state line. This area has close to 300 hotels, motels and resorts." A female enigma said through the phone.

"Garcia, can you send us a list of-" Hotch began.

"Addresses and phone numbers? On its way, kind sir. Anything else I can do you for?"

"Not for now. Thank you, Garcia."

"You, my fine furry friends, are welcome." The call was ended and Rowan smiled to herself. She couldn't wait to meet the person behind that sense of humor.

"Remind me to have her drug tested." Hotch said. Rowan chuckled.

"So, what's our plan?" Rowan asked after she collected her thoughts.

"I'll start narrowing down the list." Spencer offered.

"Then what?" JJ shrugged.

"We knock on every door and show pictures of the Gallens. That could take days, weeks even. I know we don't have the manpower, But at this point, what choice do we have?" Hotch made a semi dramatic exit.

Rowan walked down the hall to her designated hotel room. Just as she was about to open the door, the door across from her opened. She turned to see Spencer exiting his room.

"Oh- Hi." Spencer said awkwardly.

"Hi, Dr. Reid." Rowan smiled and Spencer could feel his heart beat in his neck.

"You can call me Spencer if you'd like." He said, nervously, but it made it out in one piece.

"Sounds good, Spencer." She smiled at him, a warmth sneaking onto her cheeks. "And you can call me Rowan."

"Welcome to the team, Rowan." He smiled at her.

"Glad to be here." Rowan bit her lip slightly before moving into her room, leaving Spencer in the hall by himself. His grin was undeniable.

"Sorry for the wake-up call." JJ said, something was obviously bugging her.

"It's all right. Wasn't sleeping." Rowan said with a yawn. Spencer looked over to her. He golden brown eyes were tired and low.

"It looks like we've got a possible missing persons. Ian and Abby Corbin were in Reno for the weekend. They were supposed to be home yesterday." JJ sated, handing a file folder to Hotch.

"Where's home?" Spencer questioned. He wanted to put up another pin.

"San Luis Obispo."

"They could've driven right through Sherwood. They've already been missing a night. His mom's looking after their two kids."

"Call me when everybody gets here." Hotch walked away just after he finished his sentence.

What is this? Left-Over kung pao chicken? That's disgusting." JJ held her stomach.

"What? The smell of Chinese food makes you sick, But you don't even flinch when you look at those pictures." Sheriff chuckled.

"It's not uncommon for your sense of smell to change in pregnancy, and more often than not it becomes more sensitive. It could be food, drink, toiletries or even other people that become less or more appealing." Rowan commented with a shrug.

"You're totally right. When I first found out I was pregnant, I couldn't stand the smell of certain cheeses. I always thought it was weird." JJ agreed with Rowan. "How did you know that? Do you have kids?"

"Uhm, n-no I don't have any children but several of my classmates got pregnant before I graduated early and it seemed like a general consensus." Rowan chuckled nervously.

"Wait how old are you?" JJ asked. Spencer listened in as casually as he could.

"I'm 25. The FBI has been trying to recruit me for like 3 years but I wanted to finish the police academy before I did. So I could technically have some policing experience." Rowan chuckled again.

Before they could continue, Rossi walked in with a very pretty brunette and a handsome mixed man with dark eyes.

"Emily and Derek, this is Dr. Rowan Kennedy." JJ introduced them. Rowan shook each of their hands with a smile. They were joined by much of the police officers.

"Ian and Abby Corbin have already been missing for over 24 hours, Which means we may only have until tonight to find them. According to their families, they left Reno yesterday And were planning on stopping somewhere for the night." Hotch paced by the evidence board.

"They didn't use a credit card. Unless they travel with a lot of cash, The room wasn't too expensive." Rossi states to the crowd.

"They were not traveling on the interstate. That eliminates over half of our previous search." The pretty brunette, Emily, as Rowan learned.

"Sounds like we're looking for somebody Who works the night shift at a back road motel." Sheriff clarified.

"And we think he's most likely in his early to mid-Thirties." Spencer spoke up, making brief eye contact with Rowan.

"Why is that?"

"Abducting couples is an ambitious task. And this guy's had time to perfect his skill." Rowan crossed her arms after moving some of her hair out of her face.

"He could be older."

"Don't get hung up on his age. That's the hardest thing to predict."

"What we do know is females take extensive beatings from him. That, combined with the sexual assault, Tells us he's a violent anger excitation rapist. A sexual sadist like this can't get off Unless he's torturing and watching the effects on his victims." Derek, the handsome mixed man said, holding up photos of victims.

"Part of the torture is psychological. This is another reason he takes couples. Chances are he forces one to watch his power over the other."

"Because only the women suffer sexual torture, He's likely a malignant misogynist. This typically stems from an extreme hatred towards a woman Who was relentless in her psychological and physical abuse." Emily continued.

"How do you know the dad wasn't the abusive one And he's just continuing the cycle?" Questioned a deputy.

"Only a woman could make him hate women this much." Rowan said, her mouth dry at the excruciating details she remembered from the case file.

"The idea of the "terrible mother" is best illustrated In world mythology by the negative aspects of the great mother. Instead of nurturing her children, she destroyed him." Spencer sat down on a section of the table, just a few feet from Rowan.

"And given this upbringing, It's highly unlikely he'd ever been in a relationship, Let alone been married. It's highly unlikely that this level of hatred towards women would be controllable enough for him to cover his tracks by living the 'normal life' with a wife and kids. He can suppress it but not long enough to establish any real relationship." Hotch related this information to deputies.

"And since he works in the service industry, He's forced to deal with a lot of people. So he can probably hide his aversion to women until he gets them behind closed doors. With that said, we shouldn't rule out anyone with prior offenses toward women." Derek said.

"Given the amount of time he spends with his victims, He requires a great deal of privacy. He may even utilize an ATV to get away from the accident sites, So the property may back up onto an off-Road trail. We should therefore concentrate on the most remote motels first. Thank you."

"Kennedy, You're with me for the time being." Rowan followed Hotch to one of the large Chevy Suburbans the FBI uses.

"Sorry about that. I was around back."

"Aaron Hotchner, Dr. Rowan Kennedy. FBI."

"I'm Wayne Dryden. I'm the manager." The man said. Rowan was getting some odd vibes from him.

"We're looking for these people. Have you seen them? Their names are Abby and Ian Corbin." Rowan states, crossing her arms.

"They must have done something really bad To bring the FBI all the way out here." Dryden said, nonchalant.

"They're missing. Is there anyone else here who may have seen them?"

"Well, it's just me and the old lady. And she's down at the mall for this Hummel expo. She

collects those things. Do you know them?"

"I've heard of them." Hotch says, unamused.

"She's got those things taking over my office. They are everywhere in there. It's a sight."

Just as the finished, someone opened the door behind the two agents. A large man with dark skin asked if they had any rooms.

"If you find anything or see anything, give us a call." Hotch out his card down on the counter.

Once Hotch and Rowan were in the Suburban again, Rowan had to get something off her chest.

"Hotch, I got a bad feeling from that guy." Rowan started while looking out of the window.

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked as he turned on his turn signal.

"Did you notice how quick that guy left after we did. I noticed the manager guy rush him out. The lot was almost vacant. There's no way they were full." Rowan picked at the skin around her fingernail.

"Keep that in mind and see if you can make any other connections once we get back to the station." Hotch suggested. Rowan nodded, thinking further.

"It's already dark, And we've barely gotten through half of the motels. Maybe he's not in the remote areas." JJ said as Hotch and Rowan approached the evidence board. She was speaking to Spencer.

"You think he's hiding in the middle of everything? Maybe. Let's go." Hotch determined. As her started to walk away, Emily appeared.

"Wait. Guys? Garcia found a connection between a motel handyman and Rebecca Gallen. They went to high school together. So, I thought maybe he was connected to other victims. It turns out he's not, But there's something else that all of the women have in common. Rebecca Gallen was found in a bra, t-Shirt, Skirt and flip flops. Johanna Dietrich in a dress and sandals. Melissa Taylor was wearing a bra, tank top, and jeans. None of them were wearing underwear." Emily revealed to the group. Rowan's gears were turning.

"How do you know it was taken?" Spencer questioned.

"Because they all packed it in their bags, But none were wearing it during the collisions. He leaves his victims in a car without their underwear And waits for them to be hit. A violent collision of metal against flesh. It's like the accidents are the final rape. This sexual aspect didn't show up over night This is something he's been building up to." Emily continued.

"So, he's taking the underwear as a trophy?" Spencer inquired.

"Well, that or he's taking them as a taunt to the future women. Think about it. He takes his victims underwear. Makes a different pair show up and the woman knows it's not theirs. It's a part of the psychological torture." Rowan spoke, her hands moved with the flow of her sentence.

Spencer looked at her for a couple seconds longer. Thinking, already, that she was incredible.

"So this guy sees these collisions as some kind of rape." Sheriff paced around the group.

"We know that an underwear fetish typically begins In adolescence with peeping in neighbors' windows." Spencer explained.

"When that no longer satisfies them, They'll burglarize homes and start taking the object that arouses them." Derek added.

"If they get away with that long enough, They become more confident. Then the object becomes he woman wearing it. That's when rape can occur." Rossi continued.

"The one constant is they always take the underwear as a souvenir. Is it possible a pervert like this has ever been arrested?"

"There's a good chance a serial sex offender with an underwear fetish has been caught before." Hotch thinks it over before answering.

"Right again, Agent Hotchner." Garcia said from the other side of the speakerphone.

"What is it, Garcia? For the last two days I've been searching through vicap For similar rapes and murders in cases that are still open. That has yielded me diddly squat. So I regrouped. I looked at some pictures of baby pandas. I went back I and I started searching for similar rapes and murders in cases that had been solved. Ok?" Rowan chuckled at Garcia's methods of thinking clearly.

"What did you find?" Rowan asked.

"Five months ago this guy named Clint Barnes Is convicted of 5 rapes that have been 30 miles away in Selbyville. Now, what's interesting And by interesting I also mean icky and sad and wrong, Is that Mr. Barnes only stole the undergarment of his last victim and she was beat in exactly the same manner as our current victims. And she was the only one who died. The first four showed no sign of torture? According to statements made by the survivors, yes Some questions about his performance, Things ike, "did you enjoy it?" Garcia's voice sounded said towards the end.

"That sounds like a power reassurance rapist. That doesn't fit his last crime at all." Spencer observed.

"The last victim wasn't his. It was our unsub," Rowan started. The gears that were turning, finally clicked.

"Files rushed over from the DA's office." Sheriff set down boxes with the help of a couple deputies.

"How many suspects did the have in the Selbyville case?" Rowan asked, seeing all of the file boxes.

"Let's see. Including Clint Barnes, Says they had about 10 other men who looked good for it. Brought in double that for questioning." Spencer looked into Rowan's eyes for a brief moment before Rowan got distracted by the hustle and bustle around her.

"JJ, cross-reference these names of suspects. See if you get a match with people we still need to talk to in Sherwood."

"You got it." JJ nodded.

"You can use my office." Sheriff lead her in the direction of his office.

"Almost all these guys had criminal records." Rowan looked in disgust while she read some of the files.

"Offenses range from spousal abuse, sex crimes, molestation and attempted rape." Derek pointed out.

"Our unsub is using brutal, physical force and extreme violence. Look for somebody who's angry and hostile towards his victims." Spencer rushed over to another box.

"Look for an intellectual component. This guy used the MO of another rapist to make sure the wrong person went to jail for his crimes." Rossi rolled his eyes.

"The Selbyville police talked to our unsub. He looked good for these crimes. He's in here somewhere." Hotch encouraged us to continue to look. It wasn't hard for two of the agents to easily skim through and make assessments. Perks of having an eidetic memory.

"Alright, Garcia, let's try again." Hotch requested.

"Go for it."

"Name's Floyd Henson. Lived and worked in Sherwood his entire life. Went to jail at 25 for breaking and entering."

"Our friend got caught red-Handed with some bloomers, charged with attempted rape. Jerk served time, got out a year ago. His last known address is at the crest cottages."

"Hotch, that's the one we went to." Rowan revealed.

"Employee records say Wayne Dryden was fired from the crest cottages six months ago. The only employee now is the owner... Floyd Hansen." JJ looked between Rowan and Hotch.

"You were right. Let's go." Hotch rushed away. "JJ, tell Garcia we'll call her from the car."

The rest of the team followed.

Rowan rode with Spencer in the back seat while Hotch and Rossi were up front.

"I should have listened to you, Kennedy. You were right." Hotch frowned. "I should have gotten some rest and been more alert."

"Hotch, it happens to the best of us." Rossi intervened. Rowan didn't know what to say.

"Do you hear me, Garcia?" Spencer asked. He held the phone between him and Rowan. She leaned closer to hear Garcia.

"Yeah, that's better. I can sort of hear you. So, like I was saying, It looks like Floyd Hansen didn't even have a chance. His mother drank herself to death when he was two. Father remarried but to a prostitute." Garcia informed through a spotty reception.

"Where's his father now?" Rowan asked.

"He died six months ago. Floyd inherited the crest cottages from-" Garcia's call was dropped.

"Garcia? We lost her." Spencer puts down his phone.

"Timeline fits. He gets out of jail a year ago, He's on good behavior for a few months. But the urges are too strong, Rapes and kills a woman, But he's smart enough to blame it on another guy." Rowan says, pulling her arms to her torso, feeling uncomfortable.

"His father dies, he inherits all the privacy, control and victims he could ever need."

Once we arrived, we all jumped out of the vehicle. Hotch hands Rowan a gun, which catches her off guard.

"Know how to use one?" Hotch asked. Rowan nodded and put in her empty holster. She didn't have her gun qualification test until Monday, when she was set to start.

There are 10 cabins on 10 acres. There are maps outside the office. He's got a lot of privacy. There's a garage, there's the sheds, there's stables." Hotch said, pointing all around.

"Why not keep them in one of the cabins?" Emily asked.

"Kennedy, you're with Rossi and Reid. Morgan, Prentiss, this way." The group dispersed.

Spencer, Rossi and Rowan were accompanied by the sheriff as they scoured through the office building.

"He's been following the investigation." Spencer reveals as he flips through newspaper articles.

"He's also been at this longer than we thought." Rossi turns to Spencer and Rowan with a bag of women's underwear in his hand.

"This guy is all kinds of disgusting." Rowan mumbled.

Over the radio came Hotch's voice. They caught the unsub but the unsub was hit by a semi before anything.

"Well, roadside motels definitely go on my list. Of things to never do again." Emily started after taking out her earpiece.

"You've got a list?" Spencer asked.

"You don't?" Rossi chuckled. Spencer shrugged.

"It's going to take a while to get this mess cleaned up." Morgan said, entering the group conversation.

"Well, it's going to take a hell of a lot longer for that couple to recover." Emily sighed.

On the plane back from Nevada, Rowan stood to make herself some hot chocolate.

"Kennedy, may I have a minute?" Hotch asked, standing beside her. Rowan smiled.

"Of course." She mixed her hot chocolate a bit more.

"I'm sorry about not listening to you. We're taught to not ignore a gut feeling and I tossed yours aside as a teaching opportunity." Hotch looked intensely at Rowan. He took his job very seriously and he didn't feel like he was doing his job correctly when someone opinion wasn't addressed correctly.

"I'm not upset about it. I'm just glad we got there before the unsub could do much more damage. Thank you for addressing it."

"Welcome to the team." Hotch cracked a very small smile. When he turned he was Spencer looking in their general direction. Hotch knew what he was looking at. The young doctor was looking at the younger doctor. He smiled slightly.

Spencer thought of excuses to himself. Excuses to go stand by her, start a conversation. Hotch saw the wheels turning in Spencer's thoughts.

"Hey Reid, You need coffee?" Hotch said, taking a sip of his own. Spencer looked down at his coffee cup. It was half full. Spencer looked at Hotch with a confused face.

"Yeah, Spence, maybe you should get a little more." Emily smiled from next to Hotch.

Spencer put the pieces together and stood up nervously.

There she was. Her hair reached to just below her shoulder blades. The cascading radiance of her hair. She took a sip of her drink and went to turn to sit. She noticed Spencer approaching and stayed still. She smiled at the fellow doctor.

"Hey, Spencer." Rowan smiled and she nearly took his breath away.

"Hi, Rowan." He stopped right next to her and set it hands on the counter, realizing that he forgot his 'excuse'. He left his damn coffee cup on the table.

Back at the seats, the rest of the team members were having a conversation.

"How long?" Emily said quietly amongst them.

"I give it less than a month." Morgan said, casually flipping through his music selection.

"That long? I'd say like two weeks." JJ added in while putting over the ear headphones around her belly.

"I agree with JJ." Hotch smiled quickly.

"Guys think about it; Yes they're probably soul mates but Spencer is not efficient in the department of girls. It took him an hour to go say hi just now and he forgot his coffee cup."

"They're perfect." JJ noted. The others nodded in agreement.

"So, How did you enjoy your first case?" Spencer made a face at his wording. "Not that it was enjoyable or-"

"I think I'm going to stick around for a while, if that's what you mean." Rowan let the words slip out. She was so surprised at her self, flirting had never been her strong suit.

Now that she thought about it, boys weren't on her mind much up until she turned 22ish. And even than she was finishing up her PhD. She never had interest or time for boys. They were either too immature, invalidated her intelligence or just didn't work.

"O-oh good. I'm glad to hear that." Spencer nearly choked on his words. "So, I hear you're in the process of relocating to Quantico? How long is that process?"

"I should have everything done by Sunday morning. I have the whole weekend to get settled. Just before I met up with everyone, I had a moving truck loaded up with my stuff." Rowan took another sip.

The rest of the plane ride consisted of Spencer chatting with Rowan about their varying educations. He was not only impressed by her, he was finding himself wanting to know everything he could.

Spencer made her smile effortlessly and Rowan took his breath away.

"And so it begins." JJ said quietly to Emily and she observed the way they looked at each other.


	2. Chapter 2

"So wait, she knew your name?" Spencer asked, trying not to smile.

"I don't know how I could forget a face like hers." Morgan said, sounding distraught.

Rowan tidied up her desk just a bit before turning around to see Spencer, Emily and Derek talking.

"You've been with so many girls that you can't remember all their names?" Spencer inquired, his innocence made Rowan smile to herself.

She had heard a lot about Derek Morgan. She wasn't one to indulge in gossip or rumors, but he was a handsome man. A handsome and emotionally unavailable man that traveled through most of the week for his job.

"Oh, come on, are you surprised?" Emily joked. She turned to Rowan and nodded for her to follow the group. Probably going to head to a debriefing.

"This has never happened to me before." Morgan's voice still sounded off.

"It hasn't happened to me before either." Spencer shrugged as the small group walked up the steps.

"Well, it can't happen to you. You have an eidetic memory." Rowan said, knowingly. His smile towards her almost made her stop in her tracks.

"Besides, you only got one name to remember." Derek finished off. Spencer rolled his eyes but felt a blush creep up onto his cheeks.

It was true. He did only have one name to remember. Not the name of a hook up. But the name of a first kiss. Lila Archer was his first and only kiss. He never thought much of Lila unless her name came up on the big screen.

He never much thought of girls as a whole, either. He was either into his studies, his work or one of his quirky hobbies. Lila was only a temporary distraction.

Spencer made brief eye contact with Rowan and the thoughts flooded into his brain. He didn't want to think about her, not in this way. Spencer knew that only 16% of people had met their spouse at work or through a work related function. He never had the best luck either.

"Ok. Six victims have been killed in a series of burglar/homicides all over central california. In order; Bakersfield, Fresno, Chico and, two nights ago, Alan and Brenda paisley in Sacramento." JJ's pregnant belly was getting bigger everyday. She sat down as she flipped through some pictures while the rest of the group settled in.

"Big area. Are we sure it's the same unsub?" Rossi asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"His dna was found in all the homes." JJ added.

"They hadn't connected it because he crossed jurisdictional lines." Hotch added as he went through the case file.

"The head of the sacramento field office has established a multi-agency task force And he wants us to run point."

"Looks like we got a lot of investigators on this one." Rowan spoke up. As she looked through her case file, Spencer looked at her. The softness of her voice nearly taunted him.

"We'll streamline it if we need to."

"You should know that they've already named him the "highway 99 killer." JJ rolled her eyes at the less than amusing nickname.

"We'll deal with that when we get there." Rowan took notice to Hotch's never changing serious demeanor.

"He targets 1 to 2-person households. He kills the victims while they sleep."

"Blunt force trauma with objects found at the home. Multiple bashes to the head." Spencer said aloud to the group.

"After he kills the victims, he ransacks the homes for valuables." JJ flipped through more pictures.

"Which is not unusual for a nighttime burglary-homicide. There are around 3.7 million burglaries every year, only 65% turn violent, and only 9% end with fatalities." Rowan states. She notices the quietness of the room and looks up. Her team mates all gave her a strange look before resuming.

"What's unique about this unsub is that after he kills them, Apparently he sits down to dinner in their homes. They found his dna all over the food and the table." Hotch revealed. Now, that was an unusual addition to a standard MO.

"Are these burglaries that turned into homicides or homicides that turned into burglaries?" Rossi questioned.

"Between the two offenses, it seems the primary motivation is homicide. Otherwise,he would have just stolen the items and fled." Morgan shrugged, gears obviously turning.

"But he stays there for hours. He eats their food, he tries on their clothes, he showers, he even sleeps in their beds." Rowan shuttered at JJ's words.

"It's like goldilocks became a serial killer." Emily's dark sense of humor noted.

"They've got plenty of dna, but they found no fingerprints."

"He doesn't take their cars. So,how does he get there?"

"No witness reports of strange cars on the street."

"No prints, no gun, no noise, no car, no witnesses. This all adds up to prior experience. This guy has to be somewhat of an expert in this."

"There's a record on him somewhere." Spencer drew his brows together in thought. Rowan observed him quickly. His medium brown hair flipped in various directions near the ends and his intense gaze was fixed on the monitor screen. Rowan breathed in and snapped herself out of..whatever that was.

"And until we find it, he moves on to another town." Hotch said, his voice stern, alerting the group of the serious nature in the air. "Which could be anywhere."

The team studied and picked apart the case file on the plane to the newest serial killer city.

"So,four homes in about five weeks. The first one at the beginning of september in bakersfield. Then fresno a week later. Chico eight days after that." JJ taps each city name on the ma with her pen.

"Then he changes direction, heads south to sacramento at the end of september." Spencer doodled on his map, trying to start a geographical profile.

"These crime scenes are spread out over 400 miles. I mean, how many serial killers move around like that?"

"Not many. Of the ones who do, we categorize them into two subgroups. In one model,he's an itinerant homeless person, someone who's been displaced. With the second type,their occupation allows them to travel." Rowan smiled at Spencer's statement. Not because the subject matter was a lighter topic but because he never failed to amaze her.

"He could be killing while on business." Morgan started.

"A truck driver make sense?" Rowan asked, thinking it may be a possibility.

"Long-haul truck driver bruce mendenhall shot his victims And disposed of their bodies at truck stops, across at least 4 different states." Spencer smiled toward her.

"But mendenhall targeted mostly high-risk victims. Prostitutes and hitchhikers, he picked up right off the highway." Emily added. She had a point. To their knowledge, the victims lived low risk lifestyles.

"A truck driver's MO. he'd use his rig for getaway. Somebody would have noticed a tractor trailer parked in the neighborhood." Hotch reasoned.

"How about someone in corporate sales? They still travel." Rossi suggested. Ideas were broad and plentiful.

"Or computer professionals. They travel to install software."

"Or someone in real estate. Like a land assessor."

The possibilities of traveling jobs were endless.

"They just discovered a new murder. In Modesto."

"He went south again." Spencer circled another location on his map.

"Right, when we land, Reid, JJ, Kennedy and I will go to task force headquarters. The 3 of you are going to Modesto. We're going to log some miles on this one." Hotch decided.

* * *

"I'm agent Liman." A tall man with some scruff introduced himself, more than likely the lead detective.

"Hi, Agent jareau. These are agents Kennedy, Hotchner and Reid." JJ introduced us as we shook hands with the man.

"We reserved this room for you." The man lead us to the room. A white sheet of paper read 'TRAVEL PATTERN HIGHWAY 99 KILLER'. Uh oh.

"Who named him this?" Hotch asked, his tone dangerously serious.

"I did."

"I'm gonna go get started on that memo." JJ said, her eyebrows raised.

"I'm gonna help you."

"Kennedy stick with me for a moment/" Hotch requested. Rowan walked over to stand behind the two men and crossed her arms.

"I figured he's on highway 99, why not call him the "highway 99 killer"? I got CHP to beef up presence all over highway 99." Detective Liman stated

"Hang on, slow down. We're going to distribute a memo to all the investigators, retracting the name." Hotch looked back to Rowan, requesting her to step in momentarily.

"I don't understand." The detective facial expression changed slightly.

"Gary Ridgway, more widely known as the green river killer, was burying the bodies of his victims in the remote woods outside Seattle. Investigators never thought to look there because they were too busy only looking in the green river area." Rowan relayed the information. She could tell that the detective was offended.

"All due respect,we're not finding bodies in remote woods. These are five homes in cities connected by one major highway." The detective defended.

"But by calling him this, you are detrimentally influencing the investigation. And you're establishing a relationship in the minds of the investigators with only this highway." Hotch added sternly.

"Point taken. Fire number one put out. Anything else, sir?" Detective questioned. Rowan raised her brows at the sudden attitude.

"Are these people all involved in the investigation?"

"Yes, they are."

"There is entirely too many." Rowan shrugged.

"What?"

"It's our experience in task force situations that excessive personnel can be counterproductive." Hotch reasoned.

"These people have come from far away. They've been on the case long before you."

"I understand that, but in order to function effectively this task force needs a focused headquarters, free from the congestion of auxiliary personnel. These officers will be much more helpful in their hometowns. Are we in agreement?" Hotch wasn't backing down.

"I'll start sending people home." The detective nodded in defeat before walking out.

Rowan saw movement in the corner of her eye. Spencer was entering the room.

"How did he take it?" Spencer asked.

"He'll get over it." Hotch said coldly as he stepped out of the room.

"Detective was defensive. I assumed he was offended by the lack of appreciation we showed his nickname for the killer. I'd say he has an issue with authority. Alpha male complex for sure. He also didn't like that most of the facts as to why he shouldn't give the killer a nickname were started by me, a woman." Rowan concluded. She took a couple of quick breaths, her babbling had taken its toll

Spencer smiled as she spoke. Her words were fluent, sophisticated and articulated. Her intelligence was graceful in many ways his was not.

"I'd predict that he was intimidated by you and Hotch." Spencer suggested. Rowan raised an eyebrow.

"Intimidated? By me?" Rowan questioned and Spencer nodded with a smile. "Spencer I'm not much of an intimidation."

"Don't sell yourself short." Spencer smiled once again. "Your intelligence shows when you speak. Plus you have a gun on your hip. Most of the male population would hesitate to mess with a woman wielding a gun."

Rowan chuckled. She blushed as he took notice of the small things.

"Congratulations on passing your gun qualification. I do have to admit jealousy. It took me a quite a few tries to get mine." His grin warmed her skin.

"The police academy wares off on a person, I suppose." Rowan could feel his gaze on her.

Their brief conversation was cut even shorter by Spencer's phone ringing.

"Hello?" Spencer said into the phone. He walked over to the large map on the evidence board. "Yeah, I am now."

Spencer listened to the voice on the other end of the phone while his finger followed a route on the map.

"He's hopping trains." Spencer started. Just after he hung up the phone with Rossi, as he informed Rowan of the caller, He got another call from Emily.

"Where are you?" Spencer squinted his eyes while he was listening. He put the phone on speaker so I could hear.

"I'm just off highway 99, the whole drive up from modesto,all i see are crops. Just rows and rows of crops." Emily voice came from the device.

"Farmlands. You can't see that from standard road maps." Rowan added to the conversation.

"The railway track runs parallel to highway 99 most of the way. I think i'm seeing a lot of what the unsub saw."

"Most of central california is one big valley, A flat basin completely surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides, Supported by rivers, lakes and aqueducts. It's ideal for farming."

"Well, I don't know what it gets us, But I think we should at least factor it into the conversation." Emily hung up the call and Spencer placed a new one, keeping the phone on speaker.

"Go ahead, guys, I'm listening." Penelope Garcia's voice came through the phone. ROwan wanted to meet this technical genius.

"Garcia, I need you to look into small farm towns all over central california. Track all unsolved homicides that involved nighttime burglaries In homes within a mile of train tracks." Spencer states into the phone.

"Oh, you think there's more?" Her voice faltered unpleasantly.

"I don't know." Spencer hung up the phone moments later.

"Hey guys, we're about to give the profile." JJ poked her head into the room, pausing for just a moment, taking in the sight in front of her. Rowan and Spencer alone in the room. She liked the sight.

"Let's get started." Hotch began as the room got settled. Rowan stood between Spencer and

"I'd just like to reiterate that this unsub is not getting around on highway 99. His travel is linked in close proximity to railway lines." Hotch continued.

"He's targeted 5 homes and killed 8 people in 6 weeks." Rowan informed.

"We're looking for a male, indigent transient between the ages of 25 and 45." Spencer added to Rowan's statement.

"He's fit enough for the physical demands of train hopping, or "catching out" as they call it." Emily stood tall in front of the investigators.

"He'll be bruised from jumping on and off trains. And he might also be beat up from just defending himself in any kind of turf wars." Hotch looked around the room intensely.

"He may look homeless but he's taking clothing from his victims' homes. So he'll be the only transient on the tracks in clean clothing. The trains and the rail yards are his home. And when he gets tired of these, he chooses a house to make his own." Rowan shuddered at Hotch's words. Her co workers were amazing but she had a feeling she'd never get use to hearing such grotesque things.

"He'll have a pronounced red, dry rash around his mouth and nose, What's commonly referred to as a "sniffers rash."

"How do we know that?" Detective Liman said.

"He takes household cleaners. And we believe he's abusing them as psychoactive inhalants. Nail polish remover, glue, paint thinner, lighter fluid, whatever is the cheapest high available." Hotch informs.

"They're referred to as "tollyheads" Because they derive a high from sniffing toluene, a chemical solvent." Spencer started.

"Once inhaled, the effects are felt instantaneously. We believe he's living out a fantasy in these homes." Rowan finished Spencer's thought.

"The fantasy is that it is his house for the night. He spends hours enjoying the comforts of his victims' homes. Upon leaving, he takes clothing, money, jewelry and small electronics. If you get close to him, you won't miss him. He will smell like a combination of human filth and paint thinner." Emily said, she shifted slightly, as if uncomfortable.

Spencer, JJ and Rowan sat on a provided couch as they discussed the case. JJ grabbed her belly and sighed.

"He's kicking a lot today." JJ said, placing a hand on her belly.

"In the third trimester, there's an average of 30 fetal movements per hour. Babies kick to explore movement and strengthen muscle." Spencer informed. Rowan smiled.

"Have you ever actually felt a baby kick? Either of you?" JJ looked between them. Rowan was thrown off by the question. She thought about it. Rowan shook her head. She had a younger brother but she couldn't recall feeling her mother's stomach during the pregnancy.

JJ grabbed Spencers left hand and Rowans right. She smiled. "Do you guys feel that?"

"Does that freak you out?" Spencer asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Not not at all." JJ smiled and looked to Rowan.

"It's definitely a strange feeling." Rowan said, looking at JJ's stomach.

Rowan was an intelligent woman but thinking about a very small human growing in JJ's belly was, for lack of a better word, odd. Rowan was always so focused on her education and career, even as she was so accomplished so young, and never thought about things 'normal girls think about. She never given much thought to love, sex, babies or anything of the sort.

"Does that freak you out, Spence?" JJ asked with a chuckle.

"Very much so." Spencer admitted, earning a couple of small chuckles from the two women he shared the couch with.

JJ received a call and answered it, immediately putting it on speaker.

"Hey, Garcia." JJ smiled at the phone.

"Bad news alert." Rowan could hear the disappointment in Garcia's voice.

"Hold on one second." Rowan asked, standing and waving to the window to get Hotch's attention.

"What is it?" Liman asked and he, Emily and Hotch walked into the room.

"We had garcia look into all unsolved burglary homicides in central california, Paying particularly attention to small farm towns." Spencer said, motioning to himself and Rowan. Emily looked between them and Rowan would have sworn she say a smile.

"I found his dna in three more cities." Penelope's voice low.

"How did i miss this?" Liman said, looking at the phone, somewhat shocked.

"Small towns don't always link their evidence up to state or national dna databases." Rowan said, trying to reassure the man.

"It can happen when unsubs cross jurisdictional lines." Hotch backed Rowan up.

"What are the cities, Garcia?" Emily asked, pen in hand, waiting.

"Tehachapi, Vacaville, and Orange Cove. All farm towns. All super far away from highway 99." Garcia informed the group, earning a sigh from the detective.

JJ went to speak with one of the other investigators. Spencer looked at JJ through the glass window.

"You considering it?" Emily asked Spencer as she noticed him looking at JJ.

"Considering what?" Spencer inquired. Rowan smiled as she looked at the case file papers.

"Having baby geniuses one day." Emily smiled. Spencer's phone rang. Saved by the bell.

Rowan noticed Emily look at Spencer for just a second longer. Emily's smile fell but her eyes were studying him. Or, his avoidance of the question, really.

"Hello?" Spencer spoke.

"I've noticed in the cities, including the new ones we've discovered, There's a spike in the sales of certain crops during the time the unsub is there. Last week of august, apples in tehachapi. First week of september, tomatoes in bakersfield. Second week of september, fall squashes in fresno." Garcia relayed through the phone.

So he's in town for a big harvest. We have an unsub riding trains town to town during big harvests Who doesn't have a car or permanent residence." Rowan said, knitting her eyebrows together.

"Migrant farm worker." Emily suggested. Spencer nodded his head slightly. Spencer licked his bottom lip lightly before biting it in thought.

Rowan observed the action and had to look away. Her stomach had a slight ache.

Hotch rushed in to the conference room we were in.

"They found another crime scene." Hotch's facial features indicated frustration.

"He left a shirt on his male victim again." Emily started. We pulled up to the crime scene only a couple of minutes before. Once they arrived, they were taken to the gruesome scene.

"That's not all he left." Rowan noticed the newspaper right under the murder weapon.

"Modesto couple victims of highway 99 killer." This was printed before we released to the press he's using trains to get around." Spencer picked up the newspaper.

"He's taunting us, telling us he's smarter than we are Because we got his mode of transportation wrong." Emily rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"The more confident he gets, the more he's experimenting with his ritual. The first few murders were 5 to 8 days apart. This one was just one day since modesto." Hotch crossed his arms.

"If we don't find him soon Goldilocks will be sleeping in someone else's bed tonight." Rowan said, staring at the newspaper.

"This couple is hispanic. The previous couples were caucasian. He switched his victim profile." Emily said.

"I'm not too sure race matters. This is starting to look like the victims are opportunistic. The house may have been an easy target." Rowan said, her voice low as she looked around. Emily nodded, acknowledging Rowans opinion.

"So, we got something." JJ's voice came through the phone. "Jewelry stolen from the home in sacramento turned up at a pawn shop in modesto. Garcia just sent you a picture from the security cam.

"Yeah, I got it." Spencer showed Emily, Hotch and Rowan the picture.

"Employees said he was about 5'8", slight, late thirties, dark skin. With a red rash around his mouth.

"Circulate the picture, JJ."

"I'm already on it." JJ confirmed and hung up the phone.

Hotch, Emily, Spencer and Rowan arrived at that looked to be a farm of some sorts.

The group approached a hispanic man who greeted them kindly.

"I'm agent hotchner." Hotch shook hands with the man.

"Cesar from the housing authority." The man smiled slightly.

"These are agents Prentiss, Kennedy and Reid." Each member of the group shook Cesar's hand.

"Thank you for meeting us here." Hotch sounded sincere.

"Does this man look familiar to you?" Emily handed Cesar a photo of the unsub.

"Hard to tell." Cesar studied the photo further.

"Have you had any complaints in the camps? This man would show disruptive behavior." Spencer included.

"He might be stealing things from other workers, starting fights. He sniffs chemicals to get high." Hotch relayed.

"Well, our facilities have a zero tolerance policy. No drinking, no drugs, certainly no violence. Anyone who cannot follow these rules would be kicked out." Cesar handed the photo back to Emily.

"Have you kicked anyone out recently?" Rowan questioned

"The camps in this area are at full capacity. We have to turn people away." Cesar said.

"Thank you." Hotch said on behalf of the group.

"Mucho gusto."

Cesar smiled and walked away from the group. The three agents turned and walked away.

"If he's pawning the jewelry he's stealing to get money, Why is he still working in the fields?" Rowan questioned the unsubs motives.

"Here's another question. Why is he circling the farm towns at all?" Emily added.

"There are over 140,000 miles of tracks in this country. He could go anywhere."

"But he's still in california. Something's keeping him here." Hotch concluded.

"Ok, mini-lesson." Garcia started through Rowan's phone.

"Migrants travel and work in these groups and the groups are called cuadrillas. Now,i have found one such cuadrilla that was in chico at the same time as our unsub. And then i checked and they were in sacramento and modesto And vacaville at the same time as our unsub as well." Garcia never failed to impress Rowan.

"What about the first town?" Rowan asked.

"I got employment records from the apple farm in tehachapi. This cuadrilla last worked there two days before Mildred Younce was killed. Now, here's the whammy. An Armando Salinas checked in with this group in tehachapi. But then, he falls off the map. There's no sign of him in any of the camps."

"Interesting." Emily said aloud while she thought to herself.

"Double whammy. Customs and immigration have a rap sheet on him for theft and assault And he's wanted in connection to some burglaries." Garcia continued.

"There's the record we've been looking for." Spencer breathed.

"Triple whammy. His fingerprints were one of 17 found at mildred younce's house."

"Get us his photo and get JJ to get it out to the media. We're going to need the public's help." Hotch sternly requested.

"Sending you his mug. The group that he's been following, they checked into lockeford early this morning. That's not far from you." Hotch nodded.

"Thank you, Garcia." Rowan said sweetly to the woman on the other end of the phone.

"You're most welcome. I can't wait to meet you, Lady Hawking." Rowan paused at Garcia's words.

"Uhm-" Rowan started.

"I do my research. PG out." The call was ended.

Rowan put her phone in her pocket but earned a look from the other agents.

"Lady Hawking?" Emily questioned. Rowan felt the blush on her cheeks. Being the center of attention was never her strong suit, even on a small scale.

"Is she referring to your IQ?" Hotch asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have the exact IQ that Stephen Hawking does, yes." Rowan's cheeks blushed even more.

Spencer tried to hide his grin towards the other agent, without much success. During their conversations about their educations on the plane home from the last case, she never mentioned her IQ.

* * *

The three agents pulled up to the location Garcia sent them.

The agents were escorted by a hispanic man. ONce the man spoke. Some of the members of the group ran. Officers attempted to chase them but Hotch ordered the officers to stop.

"Stop. Let them go. Let them go. We're sorry to interrupt your evening. But we've come here because we need your help." Hotch started. The hispanic man acted as translator.

"Go ahead and read out the names of the men in the cuadrilla. Ricky Zaparilla, Ruben Garcia, Felix Zapato, Olman Hernandez, Roberto Hernandez, Arturo Torres, Tony Guzman."

Emily spoke to one of the men in Spanish. Rowan mentally kicked herself for not taking any foreign languages through her schooling.

"It's his brother." Emily said.

We took the man to the station for questioning.

* * *

Spencer and Rowan stood just outside of the room while Emily questioned the man.

"I think Lady Hawking is an appropriate nickname. Don't worry. You're not the only agent with one." Spencer said to Rowan, still observing the interactions between Emily and the man he was questioning.

"Oh yeah?" Rowan looked up at him. He was easily half a foot taller than her. "What's your Garcia-given nickname?"

"Boy Wonder." Spencer smiled down at her before they noticed Emily getting up from the table and coming to talk to them.

"The killings started in Tehachapi. I think his brother rejecting him must have been a stressor." Emily informed.

"Morgan and rossi made it here, they're with rail security." Spencer siad.

"Hotch and liman are patrolling neighborhoods." Rowan finished. "

Ok. I think it's time to get these guys going. Excuse me. Could we have your attention, please? Everybody? This is Armando Ruiz Salinas. He is 38 years old, a mexican national. We believe he is currently in the vicinity of Lockeford and its outlying towns." Emily called out to the other investigators. She started handing papers to them.

"He'll only target homes within a mile of train tracks. You'll be assigned search quadrants." Rowan said to the group.

"Think the way a burglar would. Pay close attention to houses that have no exterior lights on, No security alarm signs or barking dogs nearby. Let's go." Emily said, her voice stern.

Once every investigator was out on their quadrants, the three agents sat down to speak with the unsubs brother.

Spencer took a seat on a desk that appeared to be a substitute for a break room counter. Rowan leaned her body onto the desk Spencer sat on, arms crossed.

"Are you surprised the police are looking for him?" Emily questioned.

"He's my half-brother. I wasn't around for him when he was young. He's been in trouble all his life. He was in jail in Mexico. I thought if he came to work with me, he would change. I'm grateful to work. But Armando hated work. Hated the camps. Always complained he never had a nice bed to sleep on. When he was a kid, he slept on the floor. In jail, he slept on the floor. All he ever talked about was having a house of his own. A bed to sleep on." The hispanic man's voice was raspy and he seemed to drag out his words.

"Suspect seen fleeing the 400 block of pear blossom avenue. All units respond." A female voice came over Spencer's radio once he and Rowan left Emily to go to the evidence board.

"Morgan, that's in your area. I'm going to send Hotch for back-up." Spencer said into the radio.

* * *

The unsub was shot by Hotch because he tried to kill Morgan and everyone had returned home safely

"You guys have plans tonight?" Spencer asked as him, Rowan, Emily and Morgan left the BAU office.

"I was thinking about getting a burger." Morgan contemplated.

"Oh, I could eat." Emily said, Rowan nodded in agreement.

"Oh, hey, guys, I wanted to introduce you to someone. This is agent Jordan Todd. She'll be taking over for me while I'm on maternity leave." The attention of the 4 agents were caught by JJ, being followed by a very pretty woman with dark hair and medium skin.

"Agent Jareau has told me so much about you all. You must be agent Prentiss.:

"Yes. Nice to meet you." Emily said smiling.

"Hello, Dr. Reid." Todd shook Spencers hand.

"Dr. Kennedy, it's great to meet you!" Todd shook Rowans hand.

:And Agent Morgan. Nice to see you again." Todd said with a smile. Spencer looked at Rowan and raised an eyebrow.

"Nice to see you, too. So this must be the good news." Morgan said, seeming a little thrown off.

"This would be my brownie." Todd said, her smile knowing.

"You two have met?" Emily asked. Spencer and Rowan smiled at each other knowingly.

"Briefly." Morgan put his hands in his pockets awkwardly Todd wouldn't stop smiling.

"Well, Agent Todd comes to us from 7 years at counter-terrorism." JJ informed the group of agents.

"I'm really looking forward to working with the behavioral analysis unit." Todd said.

"We're starting her training now."

"You're training her right now?" Rowan questioned.

"Well, we're kinda running out of time." JJ held her pregnant belly. "So Let me introduce you to the rest of the team."

"Yeah. I'll see you all in the field. Team." Todd said before being whisked away by JJ.

"We're looking forward to it." Emily said.

"So, is there anything you want to tell us?" Emily asked Morgan excitedly as he pressed the elevator button.

"Nope." Morgan said quickly.

"Your forehead is sweating." Rowan said as she tried not to laugh.

"No, it's not." Morgan being short again.

"Oh, he's avoiding eye contact." Emily smiled.

"His blink rate just sped up." Spencer stifled a chuckle.

"You know,guys, I don't think I want that burger too much anymore."

"Oh, come on. You can't run from us." Emily laughed.

"Oh, watch me." Morgan put his hand in front of the three other agents.

"That is definitely his mystery girl." Emily chuckled.

"Did you guys want to grab something to eat?" Spencer asked the two women next to him. They both nodded.

"What sounds good?" Emily inquired.

"Morgan said something about a burger and now I can't stop thinking about them." Rowan admitted.

"There is a bar a couple streets over with really good burgers." Emily informed.

"You guys lead the way." Rowan smiled.

* * *

The three agents arrived at the bar and sat at a table by the window. Emily and Rowan on one side, Spencer on the other.

As the agents ate, they talked. They talked about different things such as a couple of previous cases, siblings or parents and well, life.

"So, indulge us, Dr, Kennedy, why'd you wait so long to work for the BAU?" Emily asked the younger woman next to her.

"Well, once I graduated and got all my degrees, I went to the police academy in the Stanford City Department of Public Safety. Once I was finished there, I got a teaching offer from Stanford. I was just about to accept the offer when the FBI called. I turned down the teaching job and went to the FBI Academy. I went back to California to stay with family for a while than Hotch called me last week, wanting me to shadow a case before I started."

"And I'm assuming you excelled in everything?" Emily poked but smiled.

"Not particularly. The physical aspects were hard. I was a bit heavier during and before my training. But now I have some muscle." Rowan smiled.

Spencer observed as the two women went on in their conversation. He'd never admit it aloud, but he took notice to Rowans curves. He felt guilty doing so, even though her mind was his real focus. He never cared much for trivial things, such as looks. But he couldn't help but admire all aspects of her beauty, intellectual or physical. Spencer was snapped out of his thoughts by a phone ringing.

"Hello?" Emily answered. Rowan studied her face but couldn't hear the call. "Yes, I'm great how have you been?!" The excitement in her voice made the other two agents raise their brows.

"I'm so sorry, would you mind holding for a few seconds?" Emily said into the phone. "Okay thank you!"

Emily put down her phone and started to gather her things. She took out 30$ from her wallet to cover her portion of the bill and some of the tip.

"Sorry guys, an old friend from college just flew into town. She wants to meet up." Emily said, seeming to feel bad for ditching them.

"It's okay! We'll see you tomorrow." Rowan smiled up to Emily as she stood.

"Have a good time." Spencer smiled as well.

"Bye guys!" Emily called to them as she walked away and resumed her phone call.

Spencer began to panic, without Emily here, he was lost. She acted as a buffer, helping him not be the awkward, babbling, statistic and fact ridden man he was.

"Would you guys like anything else?" The waiter said from the end of the short table. He smiled at Rowan.

"What's your drink of choice?" Rowan asked Spencer. Spencer thought about it for a moment. He wasn't much of a drinker, unless he was around the team. He drank whatever they ordered for him, and even than he'd only have one or two.

"I don't really have one." Spencer shrugged. Rowan looked on the menu for a slight second.

"Two gin and sprites, please." Rowan smiled at the waiter, he smiled back before walking away.

"I didn't pin you as a drinker." Spencer blurted out.

"I'm not usually. Just need a little something after today." Rowan admitted. She already loved her job but the images she saw this afternoon wouldn't be forgotten.

"I wish I could tell you that the cases get better or that the rest of them aren't as harsh as the one we had today but I can't. Having great team members and knowing that catching these people is what makes it better." Spencers voice was soft and kind.

"Thank you." Rowan smiled. The waiter set the drinks down on the table and walked away.

Rowan picked up her drink and took a small sip. The burning sensation alcohol left forced her to make a face. Spencer saw this face and tried not to chuckle.

"Before you say something about the face I know I just made, take a drink of it! They're strong." Rowan chuckled. Spencer did as she said and took a sip, he made a sour face and they chuckled.

"What made you want to be apart of the BAU?" Spencer looked at Rowan intensely. The past hour they had spent chatting about lighter topics. Spencer felt the alcohol loosening his awkward behavior, even though he had only had two drink in the part hour.

He noticed a shift in Rowan's demeanor. She went from lighthearted and glowing to closed in and cautious in, quite nearly, the blink of an eye.

"Would you be satisfied with a short-story answer?" Rowan asked, looking to Spencer's kind, light brown eyes.

"Possibly. But don't share anything you don't want to share." Spencer reassured her. Rowan contemplated for a moment, trying to decide how much she wanted to inform him of. She didn't want to have him running for the hills.

"Traumatic childhood event. I was no stranger to death." Rowan evaded Spencers eyes.

Spencer placed his comforting hand on hers. He was surprised by this action. But, he didn't like seeing anyone in pain.

Rowan looked at Spencer's hand briefly. The warmth of his engulfed hers.

"You don't have to talk about it." Spencer told her softly. Rowan nodded, her eyes glistening with what Spencer assumed were tears.

"Another time. I promise." She smiled sadly. He nodded.

"Did you get everything settled in your new place?" Spencer asked, moving his hand from hers and placing it near his other. He held his hands together and traced where her hand had been moments ago.

"Yes, actually. I'm not too far from here. About a block or two." Rowan smiled, thankful that he changed the conversation.

"I'm glad to hear that." Spencer smiled. His eyes moved from her face to his watch, instinctively. Just as Rowan was about to speak up, the waiter approached them.

"Sorry to do this guys, but the restaurant is closing. It's midnight." He said. The agents checked their watches.

"Oh wow, It's been almost an hour and a half since Emily left." Rowan said. The agents gathered their things and paid the waiter before walking into the cold night.

"I had a great time tonight, Spencer. Thanks for sticking with me. You didn't have to." Rowan smiled as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

"I had a good time, too." Spencer smiled.

"Well, I will see you in the morning." Rowan said, her nerves getting to her. She was just about to step in the direction of her apartment when Spencer stopped her.

"You're not going to walk by yourself, are you?" Spencer asked, with eyebrows raised.

"I'm not ready to drive and it's only a few blocks." Rowan shrugged. Spencer shook his head.

"Not happening." Spencer argued, the sudden courage coming from the burning liquid he'd previously ingested. Rowan gave him a look. A look that said 'You're kidding, right?'

"I'm armed, I'll be okay." Rowan chuckled, not sure where this conversation was going.

"Armed or unarmed, I can walk you home." Spencer offered. Rowan relented. She set down her small black backpack on the ground and started taking off her shoes.

"May I ask what it is that you're doing?" Spencer asked. Rowan couldn't see his face at that moment but she heard the grin in his voice.

"I wore heels to work today, against my better judgement, so I brought comfy shoes, just in case I got tired of them." Rowan responded while sliding on the flats that she kept in her bag for instances like this.

Spencer smiled as he watched her. She seemed to be having difficulty, so he offered his arm as a stabilizer for her balance.

"Thank you." Rowan laughed.

She regained her footing and put her heels in her bag. Just as she was about to pick it up, Spencer beat her to it. She gave him another look.

"I understand that you are capable of carrying your own bag or walking yourself home. But I'd prefer to accompany you. Just in case you have to fight off an unsub." Spencer smiled.

"If you insist, Dr." Rowan joked. "I'm this way." She nodded towards the city lights.

They walked side by side on the same pace for around 10 minutes. Rowan looked at the older looking street lights while Spencer looked at the light reflected by her eyes.

"The lights are beautiful at night." Rowan said still looking around them.

"They very much are." Spencer agreed, hoping she wouldn't notice he hadn't even glanced at the street lights.

Rowan paused in front of a building with a porch light and black railings leading up the stairs. A glass door revealed a set of darkly carpeted stairs leading to another set.

"This is me." She stopped and looked at the building. Spencer looked up at it. "How will you be getting home?" Rowan asked him.

"I planned to call a taxi. I see one waiting over there." Spencer noted, easing Rowan's worries.

"Okay, than would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Anything." Spencer nodded.

"I know you have my number in your phone from work, so use it and send me a message once you get home safe. Please." Her request was sincere.

"Of course. I will let you know." Spencer smiled down at the other agent and felt his stomach practically do back flips.

"Thank you." Rowan moved her hand to his arm and squeezed lightly. "Have a good night Spencer." She squeezed his arm once again before releasing her grip and going into the building.

"I already did." Spencer said, knowing she wouldn't hear him. She may have released her grip on his arm, but not his heart.

During his taxi ride home, he smiled to himself as he relived the night. His heart leapt for the younger Dr. Feelings were never something he was good at. Especially dealing with them. He sighed, not knowing where the feelings he was developing quickly, would take him.


	3. Chapter 3

Rowan sighed at the case. Her heart was shattered into pieces. She knew that human psychopathy knows no bounds, but children? The most pure and innocent forms of humanity, were targets to senseless crimes.

She felt movement next to her. She looked over to see Spencer sleeping. She grinned.

"Kennedy, wake him up please." Hotch asked. Rowan nodded. Rowan laid her small hand on his shoulder and shook gently.

"Spencer." She called a couple of times, on the last he woke up. He looked at her for a moment and could not help stop himself from smiling.

"Sorry, I was dreaming." Spencer sat up, his torso now closer to Rowan as she eyed him.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. We have a case." Rowan poked fun.

"What were you dreaming about? Seemed pretty intense." Emily asked from across the room. If you could call the aisle way of a jet a room.

"We found a 6-year-old boy who had been abused and stabbed. Your baby was at the crime scene, JJ. Just crawling around, all happy." Spencer informed.

"Sounds like an odd one." JJ chuckled.

"You know, Reid, simple dream analysis says if there's a baby in your dreams, that baby's actually you." Morgan said with a slight shrug.

"I don't believe in dream analysis." Rowan rolled her eyes at Spencer as he said the words. He took notice and nudged her slightly with his elbow.

"I don't know. it makes sense. The case we're working on and the case in your dream both involve children. Maybe your subconscious is telling you you want to sit this one out." Hotch reasoned.

"I don't." Spencer insisted.

"Well, maybe you're just stressed out about going home to Las Vegas. Did you tell your mom you're coming?." Emily asked, not knowing the reaction she'd get.

"Why aren't we reviewing the case file?" Spencer inquired. Rowan noted the odd behavior when his mother was mentioned.

"Well, maybe it's because someone needed a nap." Emily said under her breath, earning a chuckle from Rowan and JJ.

"All right, let's start from the beginning one more time." Hotch said, leading the debriefing.

As the team went through the last victim, a 5 year old boy named Ethan Hayes, the MO and dumping ground, Rowan felt her heart breaking for the parents of this late child. The poor boys mother has ran inside to grab her purse and he was gone by the time she got back. The unsub called the victim's family and taunted them. She hoped and hoped for the most recent abduction to be found alive.

For her first 5 cases, Rowan was to be shadowing Hotch. When they split up, she was put with JJ and Hotch. Though she loved learning not only from the lead of the team, but the brilliance of the communication's liaison, JJ, she missed her time with a certain doctor.

* * *

The three agents stepped out of the car and were greeted by a tall man with darker skin.

"Detective Ashby? Jennifer Jareau. This is Aaron Hotchner and Dr. Rowan Kennedy." JJ introduced us to the man.

"Thanks for getting here so quick." Detective Ashby smiled.

"Morning. What can you tell us?" Hotch requested.

"We've got an amber alert in effect. Tip line's being run through the precinct. His photo's on the wire."

"Has the phone company been served with a caller subscription subpoena?" Rowan asked as the detective lead the agents.

"Yeah. We'll get a name and location if he's calling from a landline."

"We'll also run the calls through our analyst at Quantico. She can triangulate cell calls. we need to clear the area of official vehicles. If the unsub happens to drive by, we don't want him to panic due to the heavy police presence."

"Ok. I'll clear them out after we make introductions." Ashby complied.

"How are they handling it?"Rowan asked.

"Separate." Ashby informed, dryly.

The agents were lead to a very suburban looking home. Inside, were the newest victim's parents.

"Craig, Amy bridges, these are agents Jareau, Hotchner and Dr. Kennedy from the fbi." Ashby introduced us.

"We just want to say how sorry we are for what you're going through but we're here to do whatever we can to try and get Michael home." JJ said as handshakes ceased.

"I'm going to tell you what I told the police. I don't want to know what happened to that other boy. I just want to hear how you're going to find Michael."

"We understand." Hotch nodded.

"No, you don't." Amy said, her voice showing signs of breaking.

"You're right. I don't know exactly what you're going through. But I do know these cases. and we're gonna need your help.

"Of course. We know that." Craig agreed.

"Was it normal for Michael to walk to a friend's house by himself?" Rowan asked, immediately knowing how they'd take it.

"What are you saying?" Amy inquired, defensive.

"It's just a question." JJ defended Rowan.

"No it's not. Do you think we have something to do with this?" Amy said, her tone getting more angry.

"No, Not at all. If this was his routine, someone could have been watching him for some time now." Rowan said, keeping her voice soothing.

'He'd only done it a couple times. Amy and I had a fight about it. I thought we were babying him. I didn't want him crawling into bed with us anymore. And I thought he should be able to walk to a friend's house by himself, alone. He was really proud of himself the first time he did it." Craig explained.

"Excuse me." Amy excused herself.

"I'm sorry. It's like she can't engage in what's going on." Craig sighed.

"It's all right. Everybody deals with it differently." Hotch assured.

"I need to know what happened to that other boy."

Hotch, Detective and Craig went outside to discuss some more details, JJ and Rowan were sent to comfort the mother.

"JJ, wait." Rowan said, her anxiety levels rising.

"I already said one wrong thing. I don't know if I can talk to her again." Rowans eyes were glossy, she didn't mean to accuse the family.

"Hey, you are doing everything you can to help this team find their little boy. She can't see that right now because she's hurting but she will once we find him." JJ said, Rowan took in JJ warm and loving nature.

JJ lead Rowan upstairs to an open bedroom door. Amy was lying on her back and staring at a picture of Michael.

"When the police asked for a picture of Michael, I couldn't decide what to give them. I didn't know if it was right for him to be smiling." Amy admitted, her voice sounded so empty.

"Any choice you made would have been right." JJ said calmly.

"My husband doesn't know what to do with himself. He thinks we should be out there looking for him."

"The best thing for you right now is to just let us guide you through this." Rowan said as she sat on the bed next to Amy as JJ sat across from her.

"He thinks I blame him."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"He's right. My son's been taken. I'm completely frozen. And now I'm blaming my husband. I feel like a monster." Amy hung her said, her voice low.

"When they need you, you'll come through." JJ said, with all of the confidence in the world.

"You don't even know me."

"Call it intuition." JJ smiled at the woman.

Amy pulled up the pillow of her son's bed and pulled out a chocolate bar. The three woman exchanged slight giggles.

"I found it when I came into his room, after he'd been taken. We don't let him eat in bed. I haven't moved it because I don't want him to think he's in trouble for breaking the rules. You know what you're having?" Amy asked as she looked at JJ's growing belly.

"It's a boy." JJ smiled softly as she placed a hand on her belly. Amy looked down to her lap, than she looked to Rowan.

"What about you?" Amy smiled a weak and fading smile.

"None yet. Someday." Rowan smiled with a slight blush. JJ smiled, but not for the reason anyone would have assumed. She knew that another young doctor had shown signs of wanting parenthood.

Suddenly, the phone rang. The three women went downstairs to the dining room where Hotch and Craig stood.

"I think Amy should do this." JJ offered. Amy looked frightened.

"She doesn't want to do this." Craig said, confidently.

"No. I don't." Amy agreed.

"It's our experience that the parent that's least emotional is best." Rowan said, trying to comfort.

"Amy, you'll be great. just try to humanize michael at every opportunity. he needs to see him as a person. try to keep him on the line as long as you possibly can. the more he talks, the more he'll reveal about himself." Hotch guided Amy over to answer the phone. She looked terrified but she answered anyway.

"Hello?" Amy answered.

"Are you alone?" A warped voice came through the phone.

"Uhm, my husband is with me." Amy started. Well, she technically wasn't lying. Hotch wrote down on a yellow legal pad how Amy should respond.

"Why are you just sitting at home when you should be out looking for your boy?" The warped voice said.

"You're right. We need to do that."

"He's better off with me."

"Thank you for calling us to let us know Michael's all right."

"I didn't say he was all right. i know. i'm-i'm just trusting that he's ok. he's in a better place now.

"May I speak with michael?"

"He doesn't want to talk to you. He knows what a bad mother you are. Your 3 minutes are up." The warped voice disconnected the call.

"Garcia, anything?" Hotch asked. Rowan heard a small sound behind them. She turned around, read to reach for her gun when she saw Spencer and Morgan. Spencer came up behind Rowan and stood next to her while Morgan stayed back just a bit.

"It looks to be a disposable cell phone. i couldn't triangulate the call. but it did bounce off not one but 2 towers. I know he's mobile. And I know he's moving within the las vegas limits."

"It's just a start. Like I said, the more he talks, the more we'll learn about him."

"These are agents Morgan and Reid. They'll be here all night just in case he calls back." JJ reassured Amy.

"I need to lie down." Amy admitted.

"Of course." Hotch relented.

"You should go with her." Craig followed Rowan's suggestion.

"What'd you find out from the medical examiner?" Rowan asked, looking between Morgan and Spencer.

"We think that he's starving them." Spencer informed.

"But that doesn't fit with the care he takes with the bodies. Starvation would be a form of torture." Hotch said, with good point.

"There's no sexual assault. The torture could be a substitute for the sex act." Morgan suggested.

"I'll coordinate with Rossi and Prentiss. We'll call you if there's anything new."

Just as they were leaving, Rowan stopped to talk to Spencer.

"Hey, I'm only a message away if you need anything." Rowan's voice was soft and genuine. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave a small squeeze, like she had the night before and his stomach had done backflips once again.

"Have your volume up." Spencer smiled weakly. He could tell that she knew something was up. He wasn't sure how he wanted to handle just about anything at the moment. Rowan's grasp on his arm fell and she fast walked to catch up with JJ and Hotch.

Morgan cleared his throat.

"What?" Spencer asked, semi-standoffish and semi-confused.

"Nothing, pretty boy." Morgan smiled, knowingly.

* * *

"Reid! Reid! Wake up! It's me, Morgan!" Morgan whisper yelled to wake the young doctor.

"What the hell's going on?" Spencer shot up and realized what was happening. He instantly felt horrible.

"Sir, Ma'am. Everything' is ok." Morgan stepped in front of the steps as Spencer tried to settle his breathing.

"You wake us up screaming, You think everything's ok?" Craig nearly yelled.

"I understand we startled you. And I'm sorry for that." Morgan said as he played mediator.

"You're the FBI!" Craig nearly yelled again.

"You're right. I'm really sorry." Spencer hung his head.

"Sir, please, go back upstairs and try to get some rest. It was just a misunderstanding. Everything is fine, I promise you that." Morgan said. Craig relented and returned upstairs.

"Are you ok?" Amy asked Spencer. Concern and fear in her eyes.

"It was a dream. I'm really sorry." Spencer apologized sincerely.

"Was it about Michael?"

"No." Spencer breathed heavily, still trying to control it.

"I've been afraid to close my eyes. I'm scared I'll see him die." Amy's voice was shaken.

"Ma'am, I know it's hard. But I need you to go upstairs and try to get some sleep. Please. I am sorry for the disturbance." Morgan said in a calm voice. Amy nodded and returned upstairs as well.

"I'm making everything worse." Spencer sighed as he plopped back down on the couch.

"Reid, these cases get to all of us." Morgan said, trying to comfort his young friend.

"I'm losing it in their living room. I'm dreaming- i'm dreaming about dead kids and being covered in leeches." Spencer admitted.

"What the hell is scaring you?"

"This boy's gonna die and there's nothing I can do to stop it." Spencer placed his head in his hands.

"Reid, we're doing everything we can. You know that. We all know that. Now, I think now would be a good time so send a message to that pretty doctor of yours." Morgan said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"She's not mine, Morgan. And I don't think a text message will make me feel better." Spencer said, staring at his phone, that was sitting on the coffee table.

"Why don't you call her than." Morgan poked. Spencer reached for his phone and began looking through his contacts until he hit the R's.

Spencer had just taken notice of this fact but he saved her phone number under 'Rowan'. Typically he saves the numbers of co-workers as how they go name wise at work. He shrugged it off.

"I'll be back in a few." Spencer decided. He stood from the couch and stepped just outside the front door. He pressed the dial button. His chest felt tight as it rang.

"Hello?" Rowan's slightly raspy, tired voice came through the other end of the phone and he sighed in relief.

"Did I wake you?" Spencer asked, knowing the answer. It was nearing 2 am.

"Are you okay?" She evaded his first question and he smiled.

"I am now. I had a pretty vivid nightmare and uhm, I-I, Morgan thought I should give you a call."

"Do you want to talk about it? I can see if a cab will take me over there." Rowan offered, he could hear the worry in her voice.

"N-No, I'm okay now. I'll tell you when it's not two in the morning." Spencer smiled when he heard her chuckle.

"Tell me when you're ready." Spencer couldn't stop his smile from growing at her words.

"Good night, Rowan." He said, softly into the phone.

"Good night, Spencer." Her voice stayed in his mind like a sweet, sweet melody as she ended the call.

Spencer slipped his phone back into his pocket and stepped inside quietly, where he found Morgan leaning against a door frame, arms crossed.

"I hear your voice and suddenly all feels right with the world again. A quote by J. M. Green." Morgan smiled as his friend rolled his eyes.

"Shut it, Morgan."

* * *

"There's a very full crowd here today, which I believe is part of the natural outpouring of grief over losing someone so innocent. It is also a reminder that there is another boy out there who is in danger and he is in need of our prayers. Let's take a moment and pray for that boy. For his safe return." The preacher of the service said to the small crowd of people. The agents in the crowd began to look around for any red flags.

"Reid. what's going on?" Morgan said. Spencer stood between Rowan and Morgan. Morgan saying Spencer's last name caught her attention.

"I've been here before." Spencer breathed out. He looked to Morgan and than down to Rowan.

"Are you alright?" Rowan asked quietly. Spencer nodded slowly.

Before Rowan could protest, she noticed out of the corner of her eye, Prentiss and Rossi were slowly walking with a man away from the service.

"Got him." Morgan said quietly.

* * *

Hotch's phone rang as Amy and craig stepped out of the vehicle. Hotch waved for me to wait with him.

"Are you sure?" Hotch said into the phone after a few moments.

"Thanks, Reid." Hotch hung up is phone and sighed.

"Hotch?" Rowan questioned.

"It's not him." Hotch got out of the vehicle and approached the parents, Rowan close behind.

"He's not the one. I'm sorry." Hotch admitted to Craig and Amy.

"You said it looked good!" Craig yelled.

"We were hopeful." Rowan said, calmly.

"We believe that man is a preferential sex offender, but he does not have Michael." Hotch added.

"How many of these people are there?" Amy asked, a horrified look in her eyes.

"More than you want to know." Rowan said, sadly. She knew exactly how many. And the number angered her.

As soon as the two agents got into the home, the phone rang. Amy answered.

"Hello?" Amy said, her voice shaken slightly.

"Put the FBI on." The demanding, warped voice called.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Amy looked frantically to Hotch and Rowan.

"I saw them there at the funeral. Put them on!"

"This is Special agent Aaron Hotchner." Hotch spoke into the phone.

"You were trying to trick me. You were trying to lock me down but you arrested the wrong person."

"Why don't we just slow down and talk?"

"We only have 3 minutes." The warped voice begun to sound more and more peculiar to Rowan. The voice sounded desperate, frantic. Rowan noticed how the voice used 'person' instead of 'man' or 'guy' as panicked unsubs normally do.

It clicked.

"No. We have as long as we want."

"That's not the rules."

"Ok. You're right. Your rules. It was good of you to go to the funeral today. You must have really cared about Ethan."

"I loved him. His parents didn't deserve him. I took good care of him."

Another red flag.

"Is that why you bought him the new clothes?"

"They put him in those silly blue sneakers and lime green oxford. He hated those!"

"Well, maybe when you're good enough to bring Michael home, you can tell his parents what he really likes."

"No. He's never coming home. I saw that so-called mother. She looked right at me. She knows he sleeps better with me."

Amy grabs the phone from Hotch, in tears.

"I don't know who you are. But please give me back my son! Please. I'm begging you. I'll do anything. Just don't hurt my baby. Please!" Amy cried as her voice broke.

"Your time is up." And the call was disconnected.

Once the whole team was there, they started analysing the call. Just as the parents walked in.

"Would it be possible for us to work in private for a while?" Hotch asked.

"He was at the funeral. I told you." Amy defended.

"He was at the funeral, and you arrested the wrong man." Craig's voice angry.

"I don't think it is a man. Men generally don't reference specific details about clothing items. The caller said 'silly blue shoes' and 'lime green oxfords'." Rowan said, biting her lip. Spencer looked at her, eyebrows furrowed, and nodded in agreement.

"I think Kennedy is right. She talked about what the child wanted. how he slept. how she took care of him. she told us she loved him." Morgan agreed.

"A male unsub would have emphasized the competition, not the caregiving. He would have talked about how he was smarter than the FBI, bragged about not being caught." Spencer added.

"We could have been looking at both men and women." Amy clarified.

"The statistics are overwhelming. Women abduct newborns. Men take children." Rossi informed. Hotch dialed his phone.

"Garcia," Hotch questioned.

"I'm right here, sir." Garcia said from the other end of the phone.

"Will you run the license plates the police gave you and find any that might be registered to a woman?" Hotch requested.

"That would be zero."

"How's that possible?" Amy seemed confused.

"The transcript almost reads like she's been institutionalized. She described herself as being "locked down" not "arrested" or "put away." Plus, most mental facilities are very rigid about the amount of phone time. I think her talking about only having 3 minutes isn't her rule to us. It's what she's been institutionalized to think of as normal." Spencer spoke as he sat down and looked to the parents.

"Garcia, can you get records of women released from mental institutions this past month? She most likely has some trauma in her case file- possibly the death of a child." Rossi asked.

"i'm sorry. i can't do that. To protect patient privilege there's no central database. i could hack each hospital individually, but even then, most diagnoses are kept separately by the different doctors."

"I think i might have a way." Spencer said, looking like a lightbulb lit up in his head.

"I got a hit off the woman on the video. I ran it through vicap. Her name's Claire Bates. She was institutionalized 3 years ago after she assaulted a fellow secretary at a law firm. By that I mean, she bit off part of her ear." Garcia said through the phone.

"Do we have an address?" Hotch asked.

"There's no last known."

"Try running the license plates again." Rowan heard the clicking of Garcia's keys in the background of the call.

"I got it! No way, that's not good." Garcia went from happy to way less happy.

"What's wrong, Garcia?" Rowan asked.

"It's registered to her father. He lived in reno, but he died 2 years ago."

"Garcia, pull her birth records. If she's really breastfeeding them, than she must have just given birth." Emily started.

"Here we go. Claire Bates gave birth to a son 3 weeks ago. Oh."

"What is it, Garcia?"

"Social services removed the baby from her care after a 7-day evaluation."

"That's why she holds the boys for 7 days." Rossi said.

"She's recreating the loss of her baby." Rowan added.

"But she's taking 5 year olds." JJ pointed out.

"Her psychosis must be projecting her baby onto any children she can get access to." Hotch said.

"Garcia, can you read us the social services report?" Emily requested.

"While it is admirable that patient stayed off antipsychotic medication 'for the health of her fetus, we strongly believe that due to a history of violent and delusional behavior, there is a significant risk to the child if she is granted guardianship. therefore, the child shall be a ward of the state until such time a full-time guardian can be established."

"Is there an address?" Rowan asked.

"2509 Brookside Avenue."

"JJ will stay here with you. we'll call with any updates. Tell Reid where we're going." The whole team was out the door, just like that.

* * *

Hotch sped and sped until the group finally reached the address. The agents jumped out of the car, guns in hand.

"Watch yourselves. If she's truly delusional, she'll have moments of clarity where she realizes what she's done." Hotch warned.

"Morgan, Kennedy and I'll go around back." Rossi offered. Rowan nodded and stayed close behind the two more experienced agents.

"Prentiss and I'll take these doors."

Just moments after entering the house, Hotch came over the radio system.

"She's heading towards the back! Be careful she has the boy!" Hotch said through the radio.

Rowan followed Rossi and Morgan around to the back of the garage where Claire was separated from the group of agents by a very large fire.

"Morgan, I've got something." Kennedy said, moving slowly past him, trying not to let Claire see that she was moving.

"Kennedy, no!" Morgan whisper yelled.

The other agents were talking to Claire, but Rowan couldn't focus on hearing them. Suddenly, she heard Spencer's voice over the radio.

"No! Don't!" Rowan yelled. Rowan was moving to jump into the fire to save the boy when Morgan caught her. Thankfully he did, as the only thing burning was the sheet and a few stuffed animals, Spencer came over the radio saying that he found Michael. Rowan found her breath again and sighed, clutching her chest.

Rowan fell to the ground. She couldn't explain it. The second Claire's arm flinched in the direction of the fire, something came over her. Those 5 seconds made her stomach hurt.

"Kennedy?! Are you alright?!" Morgan called from behind her as she fell. Rowan nodded, still clutching her chest.

"I-I'm okay, just-" Rowan choked out.

"You were going to dive head first into that fire, weren't you?" Morgan asked, as he knelt beside her.

"If that was the only way Michael had a chance to live, yes." Rowan looked up at Morgan, waiting to see judging eyes. Instead, she was met with kind ones.

"You're definitely in the right place." Morgan stood up and offered her a hand. She gladly took the help and reclaimed her stance. "Just don't ever scare me like that again." Rowan nodded slightly.

"Ready to rejoin reality?" Morgan asked Rowan.

"Not just yet. I need a minute." Rowan requested. Morgan obliged and walked away to speak with Spencer.

Rowan closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose and out through her mouth for a few moments. Once she decided to rejoin the land of the living, she went to find her team.

Once she stepped from behind the house, Emily approached her.

"Rowan!" Emily called out as she jogged over to Rowan, "Hey, looks like we're staying one more night so Spencer can hang out with his mom. Are you down for sushi?"

"Never tried sushi before. But yeah, I'm in!" Rowan said with a smile.

"Good! Once we leave here, we're going straight to the restaurant!" Emily informed and smiled before walking away.

Rowan looked around for a moment. She saw Amy holding Michael as they were both being held by Craig. She saw Rossi and Prentiss talking. Than she saw him. Spencer was looking somewhat dazed as Hotch and Morgan were next to him. Rowan decided to approach.

"Hey, Spencer." Rowan smiled.

"Uh, Hotch, Did you still need help with that thing you told me about earlier?" Morgan said, pointing in a random direction. Hotch caught on quickly before the two young doctors did.

"Yes, actually. That's in the car." Hotch started to walk away and Morgan followed.

"How are you feeling?" Rowan asked, stepping closer to him.

"Would you like an honest answer?" Spencer regretted saying the words before he even said them fully.

"If that's what you want to give." Rowans voice soothed him.

"I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment." Spencer's voice cracked slightly at the end of his confession.

"What can I do?" Rowans heart was breaking for him. She hadn't much idea about what was going on, but she wanted to help regardless. She grabbed his arm ever so gently as she had before and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm not sure, honestly." Spencer hung his head and looked at the ground.

Rowan felt her chest tighten, she couldn't justify her next move if she tried at that moment.

With her grip on his arm, she pulled them closer together and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.

A hug that was much needed for him, and he hadn't even known he needed it until she did it. He immediately fell into her arms. He buried his face in her neck and sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. He felt her small hands rub small circles on his back. Spencer felt the weight of his world melt away.

They stayed like this for a perfect moment. A perfect, but fleeting moment.

"Guys! Let's go!" Morgan called from a couple dozen feet away.

They stayed for just a second or two longer before they pulled away. Spencer looked into her golden brown eyes.

"Sorry, boy wonder. I'm a hugger." Rowan said with a cheeky smile. Spencer chuckled slightly.

"Thank you, Lady Hawking."

They walked back to the cars together, each of them smiling.

* * *

The team, minus Spencer, had arrived at the restaurant and been served great food and even some drinks, minus JJ, while they laughed, talked and goofed around.

Expected topics were JJ's baby, how happy everyone was with the case's outcome, being in Vegas, a few bad jokes thrown in by Rowan herself.

But one slightly unexpected topics came up.

"So, Rowan. How are you liking _everything_ so far?" Morgan asked as Rowan took a sip of her gin and Sprite. Rowan lifted her eyebrow, she felt as if this were a weighted question.

"I'm definitely in the right place." She smiled, referring to his words to her earlier.

"And well are you getting along with everyone?" Hotch asked from the head of the table. She could tell that he, of all people, was trying not to smile.

"Very well." She said, looking suspiciously at everyone.

"Who is your favorite?" JJ asked as she put he head in her hand and looked at Rowan, knowingly.

Ah-ha! Rowan could see where this was going.

"Why do I have the feeling you all think you know the answer?" Rowan chuckled nervously.

"I knew it! You are so crushing on Spence, aren't you!" Emily said, throwing a fist in the air. Rowan took a sip of her drink avoiding and and all question answering.

"Hey, don't let the boss man stop you from answering." Rossi said, pointing to Hotch, who laughed as well.

"I-I think Spencer is wonderful, from the time I've spent with him. But I've only know him what a few days?" Rowan admitted, an obvious blush creeping on her cheeks.

"Your secret is safe with us, Darling." Morgan said, earning an eye roll from Rowan.

It was true. They all were right. It wasn't particularly rational to develop feelings for one of your co-workers, let alone a co-worker you've known for less than a week. But it wasn't something Rowan could deny, especially to herself. As her teams conversations went on, she was still stuck on Dr. Spencer Reid.

* * *

Hey guys I wanted to thank you so much for reading and responding! Now, I wanted to ask that you bare with me on the length of chapters. I'm trying to cut it down enough to capture the case well but also keep interest. You guys may have to stick with me while I figure out a good way to do that. I also wanted to address the whole Mary-Sue/S thing. Yeah I get that it's pretty cliche but my justification is that I see Spencer with someone who has a large wealth of knowledge and intelligence, like he does. There are some differences between Spencer and Rowan and there are some similarities. I have some really great plot points and twists for future chapters that I hope you guys stick around to see how they play out. Thanks again!


	4. Chapter 4

"Here he comes, right now." Morgan said, after Emily's Hangover vs. Slot Machine battle. "What'd you do? Sleep through your alarm?"

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting." Spencer said, looking to all of his teammates.

"Hotch is already at the air strip, How fast can you pack?" JJ asked, knowing Hotch would be asking about their whereabouts soon.

"Actually, I'm gonna stay for a couple of days." Spencer nodded with a half assed smile.

"Is everything alright?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah, I just,um- I haven't seen my mom for a really long time, so I'd like a few more days.

"You sure?" Rossi confirmed.

"Yeah."

"Okay, take a few days. Do what you need to do.: Rossi grabbed his bag and headed out the door. Morgan followed.

"Hey, let us know that you're okay." JJ requested before she grabbed her things and headed out with the rest of the team. Spencer nodded.

As JJ left, he looked over to Rowan, she gathered her backpack and duffle bag. He noticed that she always overpacked for cases. She looked up and saw him standing there.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Rowan. The rest of the team is eventually going to find or figure it out like Morgan did but I want you to hear it from me." Spencer breathed, trying to control his heart rate.

Rowan froze and began to panic, only silently.

"What's going on, Spencer?"

"The nightmares I've been having, I think they all stem from something real. Something disturbing. I'm staying here so I can try to resolve this." Spencer blurted out, sort of all at once. Rowan nodded and decided how to respond.

"Well, What-"

"I can tell you when I get back. I just need to figure this out." Spencer sighed slightly.

"Alright." Rowan furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "Will you just let me know how you're doing when you get a chance?"

"Keep your volume up." Spencer smiled weakly. She nodded.

Before she could say something else, he pulled her into a hug, just like the one from the day before.

He knew he needed a hug this time. He wasn't sure how long he would go without seeing her smile or seeing her eyes lighten when she laughed. He wasn't completely sure of what he was walking into either.

Hours later, Rowan was at her desk, going over some reports she had to go over and complete for her training. She had been keeping to herself most of the day. She couldn't stop going over Spencer's words in her head.

She was worried about him. And he said told her that he'd explain everything he's been going through these past couple weeks. She didn't want to hear any information from her team.

She was forced out of her head by the ringing of her phone. She saw Spencer's name pop up on the screen.

"Hey, how's everything going?" Rowan asked as soon as she picked the call up. Her chest tightened when she didn't hear anything. "Spencer?"

"Sorry, I-I just." She heard him inhale than exhale. "I'm okay now. How are you doing?"

"I'm honestly ready for this day to be over. While you're in Vegas, JJ is training Todd on the paperwork side of things. Hotch and Emily are with Garcia. I've been at my desk for over an hour. I'm not meant to be idle for this long." Rowan chuckled. Spencer smiled.

"Why at your desk?" Spencer inquired.

"Hotch is having me fill out paperwork and do reports for each case as a part of my training. I ran out of the hot chocolate powder in my desk. And it seems as if I'm the only one juvenile enough to drink it around here."

"Why hot chocolate? It's nowhere near the deep and it has no caffeine." Spencer was curious.

"Because I love hot chocolate. And hot drinks aren't reserved for the deep winter, Dr. Reid. I'm almost one hundred percent positive that all of our team drinks their coffee hot. All year round."

"You have a solid argument there, Dr. Kennedy. There's no disputing that one." Spencer chuckled and Rowan smiled at the sound. "I have to get going but I'll talk to you in a few hours?"

"Deal." Rowan smiled before hanging up the phone.

She put her phone back in her blazer pocket and sighed at the paperwork. She was just about finished. She groaned slightly and continued.

Once she was finished with her agonizing paperwork, she contemplated on what to do next. Just as she had, she received a message from Garcia.

 _PG: Get your smart and mysterious butt down here so I can finally meet you!_

 _RK: Yes Ma'am._

Rowan made her way down the technical hallway and found herself in front of Garcia's office. She was nervous to meet Morgan's 'baby girl'. Their friendship dynamic always made Rowan smile.

Rowan was just about to place a knock on Garcia's door when it opened, and eager and happy arms were thrown around her. Garcia was taller than Rowan, partially due to the massive heels she wore.

"It's so nice to finally meet you!" Rowan said, happily into the hug.

"Oh, please. The pleasure is all mine Lady Hawking."

The two women pulled away.

"So, I summoned you to my lair because I wanted to invite you to girls night on Friday night. JJ and Emily have been so busy helping Boy Wonder, they forgot it was even happening. But I figured I'd invite you. We're inviting Todd, too." Penelope's excited eyes warmed Rowan's heart.

"Of course I'll go!" Rowan said excitedly.

"I'll text you the deets later, honey buns. Right now, I have to go do my computer magic." Garcia smiled before giving Rowan another hug.

Rowan walked back to her desk from Garcia's space, smiling.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not a doctor. I don't even play one on tv, but I believe young JJ's going into labor." Rowan heard Garcia's voice as she stood next to Emily.

"Are you ok?" Emily set down her coffee cup and Rowan followed right behind.

"I'll get the car." Hotch, ran from the room.

"I need to call Will." JJ said, making Rowan lightly chuckle.

"From the car, Jayge." Rowan said.

"Breathe and walk. Breathe and walk." Garcia repeated.

"Agent Todd, I hope you're ready because your job starts right now." Emily said, as her Rowan, JJ and Garcia approached the elevators.

"I'm assuming this means that girls night is postponed until further notice?" Rowan chuckled as JJ squeezed her hand.

Half the team stood around JJ's hospital bed in complete adoration.

"Will, he looks just like you." Garcia said, her voice almost cooing.

"Well, let's hope he grows out of that." Will joked, earning a chuckle from the group.

"As long as he doesn't inherit the accent." Emily joked as well.

"Do you guys have room for one more in here?" Spencer placed a light knock on the door frame and entered the room. Rowan's heart fluttered at the sight of him.

"Spence. Hi." JJ said, looking at her best friend.

"Welcome back." Hotch said to Spencer.

"How is it that I just went through 15 hours of labor and you look worse than I do?" JJ joked and Spencer shrugged.

"Don't be ridiculous. You look great." Spencer looked down at JJ and her baby.

"Well, I could sure use some coffee. Anyone else? My treat." Will offered.

"Sure." Rowan shrugged and followed the rest of the team out of the door.

"You ok?" JJ asked Spencer when everyone left.

"Yeah, yeah. You?" Spencer nodded.

"You sure? 'Cause there's something I wanted to ask you, but it can wait."

"What is it? Will and I were talking, and, um we want you to be Henry's godfather."

"I don't even know- I don't know."

"Here, do you want to hold him?" JJ asked and Spencer hesitantly agreed.

"Hello, Henry." Spencer smiled at his godson.

"If anything should happen to us, it's up to you and Garcia to make sure this boy gets into Yale." JJ chuckled slightly.

"Yale? Do you want to go to yale, Henry? That was your godfather's safety school. Don't worry, I can get you into caltech with one phone call."

It was a defining moment for Spencer. As he held his best friend's new baby, he knew he wanted his own someday. Sure, they were squishy, fragile little things but Spencer saw how happy Will was looking down at the mother of his child and his little boy.

"What are you thinking, Spence?" JJ asked, knowingly.

"I don't know." His voice trailed off as he looked at Henry. Spencer raised an eyebrow and looked at JJ. "Can I ask advice of you?"

"Of course."

Spencer couldn't spit the words out. He couldn't find words to describe what he was trying to say.

"I can't describe it without sounding crazy." Spencer said softly, his voice faltered slightly.

"Try me."

"It's not rational. I met her less than a week ago. And she's a coworker. JJ, it doesn't make sense to me but her voice or her smile or her just being there, it makes the room I'm in brighter." Spencer shook his head.

"Spencer, I met Will on a case in Louisiana. Do you remember? Now look where we are. You don't have to defend yourself to anyone for liking someone. Especially Rowan. She's a sweetheart and seems to be fond of you. I see it. Everyone sees it."

"Are you sure you weren't seeing things, you know, baby brain." Spencer joked. JJ rolled her eyes.

"Give me my boy and go find your girl." JJ smiled as Spencer placed Henry back into her arms.

"Thank you, JJ."

Spencer held the door for Rowan as they approached the same bar and grille they had been to just a few nights before. They were seated in a comfy booth this time. Rowan pulled her legs up onto the booth seat to sit 'criss-cross-applesauce' as she had always referred to it as since she was a child.

They ordered an appetizer to split and a couple of sodas before the deep and meaningful began.

"I suppose I should tell you why I've taken it upon myself to claim your evening." Spencer looked into Rowan's eyes, waiting to see how she responds.

"What? You mean you didn't want to just spend time with me?" Rowan's voice sarcastic as she placed a hand over her heart in mock pain.

"I never said that." Spencer said, surprised at the bravery in his words. "I've been in a rough place lately. All the cases with children, they triggered memories in my brain that came back in the form of nightmares." He paused, feeling his chest tighten. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth.

"Spencer, you don't have to tell me any of this if you don't want to." Rowan leaned in closer to him as he sat across from her.

"I need to talk about it. Everything has been solved but I need to get everything out." Spencer swallowed before looking at her. Her facial expression was soft but attentive.

"I've been having this dream since I was a kid. I find a child in a basement, he had been sexually assaulted and stabbed. Once he was dead, he was stuffed behind a washing machine. The last few times I've had the dream, odd details have been added. Including, not only finding the boy, but finding my father crouched over his body." Spencer paused and looked to his hands, they were fidgeting with a fabric napkin.

"I remembered a name. Riley Jenkins. I had always believed that he was a figment of my imagination. But he was real. Very real. Before my dad left, he tried to make me a normal kid by trying to put me in sports. I found out that Riley was on my baseball team."

"My father left a few short months after Riley died. I was so angry with my father for leaving my mother alone. For leaving me. I tried my hardest to find a way that he was guilty of anything but hurting my mother and I. I saw him for the first time in nearly 20 years yesterday."

"Gary Michaels murdered Riley and was targeting me. My mother told Riley's father about her suspicions and Riley's father killed Gary. My mom found Riley's dad after he killed Gary. She slipped in Gary's blood and my father burned the clothes. The difficulty of that secret they kept drove them apart and my dad left." Spencer had shed a few tears. Rowan reached across the table and squeezed his hands after he wiped the stray tears from his face. He looked at her hand, holding both of his. He ran his thumb across her knuckles as he exhaled a breath.

Rowan froze at her bold move and watched as Spencer traced small circles on her knuckles. She didn't know what to do. She felt her cheeks getting hot.

"It was strange seeing them together after so long. He comforted her as she told me the story. It reminded me so much of my childhood. I never understood why he left. I'm not sure if hearing the truth makes it any better. The hole in my life where he was supposed to be is still empty. I don't know exactly what I expected, though. "

"Sometimes hearing the truth doesn't make it better. in the sense of making everything okay. But it helps with closure." Rowan said softly. Spencer looked into her eyes and she was left nearly speechless. She could see the hurt in his eyes.

Just when Rowan was about to continue, the waiter came with the appetizer they ordered. Spencer released Rowan's hand, knowing how long he had been holding it. Rowan reluctantly pulled it back to her to make room for the dish.

Rowan smiled excitedly at the plate between her and Spencer.

"What did you say these things were?" Spencer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"They're cheese curds. My parents were from Ohio and they're popular in the midwest. These things were always my favorite part of visiting my grandparents in Ohio. They're like tiny cheese sticks in spheres." She smiled and picked one up from the plate and dipped it in the marinara they came with. She looked at Spencer, expectantly.

Spencer relented and chose a 'curd' before dipping his into the red sauce. He popped it into his mouth and Rowan raised an eyebrow as he chewed. Spencer gave a nod and shrug.

"Not bad." Spencer said, slyly smiling. Rowan rolled her eyes as she took another. "The other night you told me a short story." Spencer furrowed his brows. Rowan thought back. Ah yes, she recalled.

"The really is no specific reason other than I wanted to help people. Catching bad guys is sort of a preemptive strike to that I guess." Rowan looked away from Spencer's gaze. She hadn't talked about it much since everything happened.

"Rowan, it's okay if you want to leave it at that." Spencer watched her facial expression warp.

"I haven't talked about it, really at all. There's so much." Rowan felt the knots in her stomach tighten and her chest grow cold. Spencer nodded and waited for her to continue.

"My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer when I was 8 and she died two years later. My father did not take it well to say the least. He turned to drugs and alcohol. He was violent and angry when he was under the influence. He would smack us around but nothing we couldn't handle. One night, my older brother, Ryan had a band concert. My father didn't want to go, but he did anyway. He left my younger brother and I at home so he didn't have to deal with us for a bit." Rowan paused. Her eyes threatened to fill with tears but she wouldn't let them.

Spencer's heart ached for the woman in front of him.

"He got really messed up during the concert. Afterwards, my brother wanted to drive them home but my dad refused and forced Ryan into the car. My father had a pretty heavy mix of pills and alcohol in his system, causing him to pass out at the wheel. By the time my brother realized what was happening, it was too late. The car flipped and landed on its roof. Ryan was killed instantly." Rowan felt the hot tears run down her cheeks. She wiped them quickly before continuing.

"My father was sentenced to 15 years for 'Gross Vehicular Manslaughter while under the influence.' Ryker and I were sent from Ohio to Nevada to live with my, at the time, pregnant aunt and her husband."

"One of the first memories I have in Nevada is the time I got letters from the police and fire departments my parents worked at. Each of the officers and Firemen wrote my brother and I letters letting us know they had our backs and that they missed us. I still have all of them."

It was now Spencer turn. He grabbed her hands in his.

"You are incredibly strong." That's all he said. That's all he had to say to her to make her hurt just a tad bit less.

Rowan smiled her simply radiant smile at him, her being so grateful for his comfort. There was something she left out. Something so low, so painful to even think about. She knew it but she couldn't bring herself to ruin his current image of her. Maybe someday she would tell him, but not now.

They sat in a booth and time flew around them, unbeknownst to them. They had recovered from the difficult words spoke earlier in their night together. He gazed at her as she smiled, speaking of her one and only friend in college. He watched as she spoke, with her hands as helpers, about the time her and her college roommate took a trip to see her roommates family during a break.

She was so enticed by the way he spoke with such a sophisticated manner about his favorite things. He chattered away about Doctor Who and his favorite scenes. His favorite books and the intelligence behind them.

Once again, they had let so much time slip, the waiter approached their table.

"Hey guys, sorry to do this again, but it's closing time." The waiter said to them, the same waiter from a few nights back.

They packed up, paid and headed out.

"They probably hate us, we were in there for hours, hogging a table." Rowan chuckled as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

"Oh, I think they'll be okay. They might be catching onto your excessive tipping habits." Spencer poked, earning an eye roll.

"I never had a serving job but my college roommate did. She always described the job as less than ideal." Rowan chuckled.

They started, taking their time, towards Rowan's apartment building. Within a few more minutes, they were stopped in front of it.

"I wanted to thank you." Spencer said, looking to Rowan. The street lights bouncing off her warm eyes once again.

"For what?" Rowan lifted an eyebrow.

"Listening to me. And sharing difficult information with me." Spencer said, looking away, not knowing what her reaction would be.

"Then, I should be thanking you as well." Rowan nudged him with her elbow slightly. "I'm only ever a phone call away if you need anything."

"Be careful what you wish for, Dr. Kennedy. I could use and abuse that phone number of yours." Spencer joked, not sure where the hell that came from.

"That's perfectly fine with me." Rowan smiled.

There was a moment, where they both stood and stared. The moment was fleeting, but oh so beautiful to both of them.

"I guess I should probably let you get inside, where it's warm." Spencer said, not looking away from her.

"I guess." Rowan said, her breath seeming to leave her. She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest and hearing his heartbeat underneath the layers he had on.

Spencer wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, as he had seen Morgan to do Garcia. He always thought it was a kind gesture.

"Good night, Spencer." Rowan said, her eyes closed, not wanting to let go.

"Good night to you too, Rowan." Spencer stopped himself from tightening his grip on her.

Rowan pulled away and flashed him a smile before walking up the steps to the front door. He watched and made sure she made it into the building safely. He waved down a taxi once she headed up the stairs.

Once in her apartment, she closed and locked the door. She leaned her forehead against the door and took a deep breath. She was undoubtedly falling for the fellow doctor.

As for Spencer, he sat in the taxi and told the driver the destination. He glanced at the building one more time, his arms longed to hold her once more as he felt himself slip even further into her metaphorical grasp.

Wow, this chapter was an ass to write. I had some writer's block but I'm all cool now. I just love writing fanFICTION. FanFICTION is one of my favorite things. This chapter is short compared to my other ones, just because of the circumstances of the episode. I wanted to thank those of you who gave me feedback or followed/favorited. Peace out.


	5. Chapter 5

"Earlier this morning, police were contacted and informed that Kaylee robinson, who ran a daycare center out of her home, had been abducted along with 4 children."

Rowan snapped out of her trance like paperwork mode and looked at the TV. A photo of the missing woman was shown. She looked around and the rest of her team was watching as well.

She heard the BAU door open. Rossi and Spencer were leading a short, round man with long white hair in handcuffs.

Spencer had messaged her about a man approaching him and Rossi this morning, but he didn't give much detail. Hotch seemed to be in the know but the rest of the team were piecing things together. She assumed that they all got the same message from Spencer.

Spencer spotted Rowan in her seat and approached her. He crouched down beside her.

"Spencer, what's going on?" Rowan lifted her eyebrow.

"That man over there approached me this morning after my lecture with Rossi. He claims he killed 7 women with no evidence. He also claimed that he took 5 more victims and we all have 9 hours to save them." Spencer spoke very quickly.

Rowan listened in horror. Her eyes glanced at the TV, the same news segment. 5 missing people.

"Oh my god." Rowan said, her eyes wide.

"I never have any normal fans." Spencer said as he stared at the man who requested his presence. Rossi had just concluded the first round of questioning, with the observations of Morgan, Spencer and Rowan.

"This guy has god complex just plastered on his face." Rowan said in disgust beside Spencer.

"He sure loves the attention." Rossi said.

"He will eventually give up something about Kaylee and the kids. Guys like him always do." Morgan said, eyebrows stitched together.

"Before he hurts them?" Rowan questioned, she turned to see that Hotch had entered the room.

"We need a button to push. It's 1:45 and we have until 10 to find that button." Hotch said, briefly looking at his watch.

"The first 7 victims could give us some leverage." Morgan added.

"He says we'll never find any evidence so he has nothing to worry about on them." Rossi seemed very on edge.

"He made of point of saying there are no bodies, no physical evidence." Spencer pondered.

"We just have to show that a crime was committed. We can do that circumstantially." Hotch determined.

"We need to identify the original 7 women. Going back in there with names just might shake him up." Rowan said, crossing her arms.

"How do we do that?" Spencer questioned Rossi with a raised eyebrow.

"Reverse profiling." Rossi said. Rowan had heard very little about this subject matter.

"Learn everything we can about him and his methods And then profile it back to what kind of victim he would choose and from where." Hotch's face was stern and almost angry.

"From the unsub to the victim." Morgan said.

The agents started to clear the room. Spencer and Rowan walked side by side.

"Do I count as normal?" Rowan asked, surprising herself, looking up at Spencer. He didn't know how to react to this question.

"In what sense?" Spencer answered a question with a question.

"You said you never have any normal fans. I'd like to think of myself as a fan of yours." Rowan smiled slightly. Spencer tried to hide his growing smile.

"Well, you're not a narcissistic sociopath or a homicidal psychopath. So, I suppose you count. You're a fan of mine?" Spencer looked down as the beautiful woman walking next to him.

"Of course I am." She smiled widely as they entered the round table room. She took a seat between Emily and Garcia.

"I went through vicap. There are literally thousands of open missing women cases across the country." Penelope looked stressed as she shuffled through some papers.

"It's not the entire country, though." Spencer began as he paced around the room. "Kaylee was abducted at 9:30 this morning. He had time to take them somewhere, hide them, and make it to Fredericksburg 2 hours later."

"He'd need a place with a lot of privacy to hide 5 victims." Emily sighed slightly.

"A house." Rowan suggested.

"He's local." Rossi huffed as he went through some papers.

"He was late for the presentation. You know, it was more like 2 ½ hours. He got there around noon, which puts him somewhere around that radius." Spencer continued to pace.

"Garcia, work up a map. We need the farthest point he could have taken kaylee from Loretto and still gotten back to Fredericksburg by noon." Hotch asked, his tone serious and stern.

"Shouldn't be too hard." Garcia nodded.

"All right,what do we know so far? He's obsessively neat and clean. He did research on Reid and me at least. He's abducted 5 people,and then gets to a scheduled recruitment session at a specific time." Rossi picks up a marker and starts jotting things on the board.

"That is some pretty extensive pre-planning." Rowan noted. "He seems to be very fixated on IQ and intelligence. That could be what is driving of his god complex." Rossi wrote down what Rowan started.

"Good thinking." Rossi said.

"Did you find anything in those pictures, Garcia?"

"I can't even positively say they're dead."

"What about hair color? All the ones that show hair, they appear to be brunettes." Garcia admitted.

"So is kaylee." Emily said.

"I'll start there. Brunettes from central virginia that are missing." Garcia noted the parameters.

"Ident got zip on his prints. He's not in any system. He's a ghost." Morgan reentered the room.

"All right, if he hasn't been fingerprinted, he hasn't been arrested. Which also means he hasn't had a passport, driver's license, or been in the military." Rossi looked deep in thought.

"Never been a teacher, either. You have to be fingerprinted to be a teacher." Spencer informed.

"What kind of professor doesn't teach?" Todd asked.

"A researcher? Someone on a grant, maybe."

"A grant would give him the time." Hotch pondered.

"There must be some sort of central grant database. I can't imagine the government just handing out money and not- I'll look into it anyway." Garcia caught herself and hurried off to her lair.

"From past conversations, we know he's a narcissist and seemingly remorseless." Rossi informed.

"Psychopath." Morgan said, plainly.

"You know, we can eliminate a lot of these open missing persons cases if we could just figure out how he met them." Emily suggested.

"Jordan, contact the Loretto P.D. and get us invitation to consult on the Kaylee Robinson case. Be nice to them. They don't have to let us. And then you and Morgan go down there and find out what you can." Hotch decided.

"Lets go." Morgan said, not looking terribly happy about his assignment.

"Prentiss, I need you to do something for me." Rossi inquired.

"Anything." She agreed and stood.

"What's our strategy going to be in there with the interrogation?"Spencer asked.

"You're not gonna be in the room." Rossi declared.

"What do you mean?" Spencer looked confused.

"That's what he wants." Rowan said.

"He wants to play with you. We have to knock him off his game. That's all we have right now."

Spencer, Rossi and Rowan rushed down to Garcia's lair.

"He said one of them is already dead." Spencer informed Emily, Hotch and Garcia.

"One of the five." Rossi said, shutting the door behind him.

"There are only 3 children." Hotch said. Rowan lifted an eyebrow, even the news report said there were 4 children taken from Kaylee's business.

"Is this them?" Spencer asked, leaning forward to look at the screen.

"An anonymous site emailed to it me."

"He said one will die every 2 hours, not all 5 in 10. When he said 10 hours,i just assumed-" Rossi said, it was beginning to show that it was getting to him.

"This is a chess game, he's 2 moves ahead." SPencer said, his frown deep.

"Let's not get diverted." Hotch warned. "How we doing with the seven missing women?"

"So far, I've got 39 missing brunettes in central Virginia."

"Ok, 30 years old like Kaylee. Narcissists tend to be extremely preferential."

"28."

"He said he's been working on this for 5 years." Rossi added.

"Over the last 5 years, 17."

"All right, if he thinks he's going to jail for even one of the original 7 homicides, Maybe he'll tell us where the rest of them are and give himself some deal room. How long do we have until the next one?"

"One hour, 48 minutes." Spencer told Hotch.

"Dave, Can I speak to you for a second?" Hotch asked. Rossi followed him into the hall.

"They're all incredibly beautiful." Hotch said as the team assembled the last possible victim.

"Almost unnaturally." Spencer said, studying the photos.

"What are the chances that three out of our seven victims are from the same town?" Garcia said, recognizing the pattern.

"What's the population of Saluda?" Rowan asked, crossing her arms.

"Middlesex county is small, but it's near water. A lot of people have boats there and weekend homes." Spencer informed, still studying the images.

"And two from Gloucester point." Hotch added. Reid got a message on his phone. He tilted his phone so Rowan could see the picture. It was a circle with a long line through it, made out of the daycare toys found in Kaylee's home.

"Morgan just sent this to me from the Robinson house." Spencer handed Hotch his phone. Spencer stepped towards the board. He circled the 5 cities and put a line through Garcia's writing.

"Does that mean something?" Emily asked. Suddenly, Spencer dashed out of the room, leaving the rest of the team semi-shocked.

"What is he doing?" Hotch asked, eyebrows raised.

"I don't know but whatever it is, it's incredible." Rowan said, looking out of the door frame Spencer exited.

Emily raised her eyebrows and made eye contact with both Hotch and Garcia. They all shared knowing looks. Before anyone could comment, Spencer rushed back into the room.

"Garcia, can you put the map of Virginia up on screen?" Spencer said, nearly out of breath. Garcia put the map on the screen. "It's an irrational number known as 'phi.' It's based on the ratio of line segments to each other and of the whole. It's called the golden ratio."

"Golden rat. That's the web address, ." Garcia informed.

"It's a ratio found all through life. In fact, many people that we find conventionally attractive are proportioned based on that ratio. He, uh, he made a reference to Leonardo da Vinci, remember this? Da Vinci used it in a lot of his paintings. A matter of fact,the last supper-"

"Reid, Reid, how do we find them?" Hotch interrupted his near word vomit

"The whole concept is represented by this pendant, including the logarithmic spiral created by using a Fibonacci sequence. Follow me on this. You can manipulate this image, right?" Spencer asked Garcia.

"Tell me what you need." Garcia said, waiting for Spencer.

"Wonderful." Spencer said as she pulled up all of the cities. "We had one in Richmond. One in Dinwiddie, then two in Gloucester point, and three in Saluda, and 5 in Loretto this morning. One, one two, three, five is a Fibonacci series. Each number added to the number before it. It's what his ticks mean. He's subconsciously counting off the fibonacci sequence in his head over and over again. Now geometrically, it can be expressed as a spiral. It's called a logarithmic spiral. Can you put the spiral up on the map?"

Penelope followed.

"Thank you. Ok, now flip it 180 degrees. Now make it bigger. Bigger,just a little bit bigger. Stop, stop, stop." Spencer requested each adjustment until the spiral was just right. "The pendant is like a key. Chester, Virginia."

"You're sure?" Rossi asked.

"With his level of obsession with these numbers, the ratio will have permeated his entire life. If we took a city map of chester, the location where kaylee And her children are being held will follow one of these points on that map as well. The ratio works with any scale at all."

"Morgan and todd are closer. Call them and tell them to get to chester. I'm gonna get a chopper , Kennedy and Prentiss, get a city map and you're with me."

"There's still something Bugging me about this." Rossi confessed as the team scattered.

Hotch, Emily, Spencer, Rowan, Morgan and Todd all met up at the house in question that Spencer's knowledge and calculation had brought them to. At Rossi's information, the team check each entrance for booby traps, check the back for any explosives of acidic matter. Both of which they found.

The team had also successfully rescued Kaylee and the children.

After everyone was safe, Spencer, Rowan and Emily were about to discuss a part of the case when they heard Todd and Morgan bickering.

"This is going to be interesting." Spencer said, looking at Morgan and Todd as they walked toward a couple of the cars.

"Very." Emily chuckled.

The team agreed upon going to dinner to celebrate Todd's first case.

There was some bickering between Morgan and Todd. Jokes told by none other than Rossi and Hotch, earning laughs from the whole table.

"Does anyone want a drink?" Rowan asked, standing from the table, offering to go to the bar.

"Oh, yes. Get another bottle of wine for the table!" Rossi said.

"And would you mind grabbing me another scotch and soda?" Emily asked.

"Make that 3!" Hotch said, pointing between himself and Morgan. Rowan chuckled and nodded.

"I'll help you." Spencer said, standing from the table and following Rowan to the bar.

Once they were out of hearing range, Todd looked at each one of her new team members.

"Are they dating?" Todd asked, feeling like she was out of the loop.

"Not yet." Morgan said with a chuckle, looking at the two young doctor's chatting at the bar, waiting for the bartender. Todd raised an eyebrow.

"We're all convinced they're soulmates." Emily filled in casually. A couple members chuckled.

Meanwhile at the bar…

"You were absolutely incredible today." Rowan said as she leaned on the bar, right elbow resting on the surface. Spencer felt his cheeks redden.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Spencer claimed, trying not to smile.

"You saved Kaylee and all five of those children. You saved them because you were the smartest person in the room, even the ringmaster of the horrid crime couldn't compare." Rowan looked up at him.

She took in his features quickly. His jawline was cut and being lightly touched by his semi-messy, longer hair. The worried and thinking expression he had worn all day was replaced by a light, calm one with an added smile. A smile Rowan adored.

"Sometimes when I was younger, I hated my mind. I hated that I wasn't conventional. But than a day like this comes along and I regret ever feeling that way about myself." Spencer admitted, his eyes avoided his favorite golden brown ones.

"I know it's difficult to control how you feel about yourself sometimes, but I'm glad you come to your senses." Rowan joked, nudging his side slightly.

"I'll be with you guys in a couple minutes!" The bartender called from a little ways away. The pair nodded.

"What's your opinion on the golden ratio?" Spencer asked Rowan.

"Spencer, I don't have any degrees in math. I don't really have an opinion on a sequence I didn't know much about until you elaborated." Rowan chuckled.

"Not the sequence itself, but the attraction theory based off of it." Spencer's heart raced, hoping his cheeks didn't give him away.

Rowan paused and thought for a moment.

"Typically, I know that conventionally attractive people, like celebrities, have more symmetrical faces. But I don't fully believe that is the only or most important part of human attraction." Rowan said, trying to piece the words together.

"I also acknowledge that a lot of the more basic instinctual and raw human attraction laws say that pheromones and all that have to do with humans choosing each other, but I say that there is a lot more to attraction than human instinct. Things like personal preference, predisposal to influential thoughts and feelings towards certain demographics of humans. I think the alternative definition of chemistry has a lot to do with it, as well."

"Would you mind elaborating, Dr. Kennedy?" Spencer asked, infatuated by her words.

"What can I get you guys?" The young, male bartender asked, smiling at Rowan but almost ignoring Spencer.

"3 scotch and sodas, 2 gin and sprites and a bottle of chianti, please." Rowan smiled at the man but the smile fell as soon as he walked away.

"Elaboration. There is the traditional definition of chemistry, the branch of science. And than there is the definition that people use in movies and TV shows. Things like 'oh, they have such great chemistry.' Behind the alternative chemistry isn't just science. There is also emotion. 'The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.' Rowan finished her thought and Spencer couldn't help but smile.

"You called me incredible less than 5 minutes ago and you had all that to say? I have never thought of it that way." Spencer asked, once again engulfed in her words.

"Does that mean I hold the very high honor of introducing you to a new thought?" Rowan asked.

"Here you go guys, I'll add it to the tab." The bartender said, smiling at the both of them. Spencer tucked the bottle of wine under his arm and grabbed the three scotch and sodas while Rowan grabbed the two gin and sprites.

Once they dispersed the drinks and reclaimed their seats, Rowan began a conversation with Emily. Morgan leaned close to Spencer.

"What took so long?" Morgan asked quietly.

"I don't think she's ever going to stop amazing me." Spencer blurted out, regretting it as soon os the words left his mouth. Morgan gave Spencer a look.

"Are you admitting-"

"Shut it." Spencer glanced over at her once again.

"You just said she amazes you and I'm supposed to shut it?" Morgan chuckled, a little shocked.

"Yes, I did. And she does. But I don't really know how to feel about all of this." Spencer said, thoughts running through his head.

Spencer was overwhelmed by his budding feelings for her. He couldn't process them all at once.

"Pretty boy, get out of your head." Morgan nudged his arm.

It is currently about 5:30 AM my time and I regret nothing lololol. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Writing this make me happy. I can't wait for you guys to read later chapters! Peace.


	6. Chapter 6

"Vanessa Holden, age 25." Began Rodd. A photo of a pretty blonde woman appeared on the screen. "Last friday night, she was clubbing with her sister. A stranger, white male, roughly her age, picked her up. They left the club at 1 A.M, went back to her place. He forced her on her hands and knees.

And then he cut her open just below the stomach." Todd flipped to a photo of a very dead Vanessa Holden, blood pool and everything.

"Whoa." Rowan said, cringing at the photo.

"Yeah. Pretty rough." Rossi said, apparently also disturbed by the photo.

"The gutting causes the intestines to spill out. You can survive for a few hours, actually even days." Spencer informed.

"Postmortem indicates that he slit her throat at 5 A.M. So he disemboweled her but didn't kill her for 4 hours." Rossi added as Todd passed out the case files.

"Could be sexual sadism." Rowan suggested as she looked a little into the file.

"Yeah, I thought so, too, but I found two priors from a year ago. Prostitutes, actually, in motel rooms." Todd informed.

"Ok, So keep running with it. Why do you think this is the same unsub?" Morgan asked.

"In Vanessa Holden's apartment, the following were discovered; bleach, ammonia, trash bags. All in a triangular pattern. One year ago, motel rooms, the same things found in the exact pattern."

"He's cleaning up." Emily says.

"Might be a forensic countermeasure." Rowan shrugged.

"Could be a sign of remorse." Spencer added.

"Apologizing for the murder by minimizing the mess." Hotch states.

"But there's one other commonality between both sets of murders. Bleach and ammonia were found under the victim's fingernails." Todd informed.

"He's making them clean up their own murder." Morgan said, pausing to look up to the screen,

"It's the same unsub." Hotch determined. "We will further discuss on the jet. Wheel up in 30."

"This is a pretty solid change in victimology. High risk women compared to a socialite. It's a substantial boost in confidence." Rowan said from her seat next to Spencer.

"Rowan's right. Does that make him organized or disorganized?" Emily asked from behind her stack of papers.

"Well, the prostitutes point one way, the club goes another." Morgan said.

"The triangular arrangement of the cleaning supplies is interesting." Spencer furrowed his brows at the photos.

"Obsessive-compulsive?" Hotch inquired.

"Might have been institutionalized." Emily noted.

"We're missing the forest for the trees here. This guy started with prostitutes, a high-risk victimology.

Took a year off, came back, killed a socialite. We're missing something important."

"No forced entry, no coercion of any kind." Morgan added.

"So how does our unsub go from loser of the year to Don Juan?" Rossi questioned.

"Actually, as byron interpreted him, don juan was an ironic reversal of sex roles. And when-- th--that's about it." Spencer stopped himself from speaking more. Rowan nudged him and gave him a small, almost sympathetic smile.

"Something must have happened between the last prostitute and Vanessa Holden making him change his victimology." Hotch determined.

"Could the unsub have known Vanessa?" Todd asked.

"It's highly unlikely." Rowan informed.

"Sexual sadists typically attack anonymously. They have to sever a personal connection and see their victims as objects to perpetrate this level of torture." Spencer added.

"We have to build two profiles, than. One for the unsub who killed prostitutes, one for the unsub who goes to clubs." Emily said with an odd look on her face.

"We've never done that before." Rossi said, semi-surprised.

"Prentiss is right. The victimology is so different, we'll treat them as separate unsubs and see what overlaps. Reid, work up a geographic profile, focus on location of the murders. Rowan, you help Spencer with the profile and come up with possibilities of the overlap. Prentiss and Rossi, concentrate on the prostitutes. Jordan, Morgan, and I will go deal with Vanessa Holden." Hotch gave the assignments,

"Detective harding? Agent Jordan Todd." Todd began as she shook the detectives hands.

"Thank you for coming." Detective Harding smiled and shook everyone's hands.

These are SSAs Hotchner, Morgan, Dr. Reid and Dr. Kennedy." Todd introduced us.

"Hey, is there a dna match between the unsub and the prostitutes? We could run through vicap just in case." Spencer suggested.

"Um, there's no dna at all. No prints, no fibers. Just like Vanessa, everything gets cleaned up." Detective sighed slightly.

"Pretty effective forensic countermeasure." Hotch raised his eyebrows.

"What about witnesses? Somebody must have seen something." Rowan asked.

"Oh, yeah. Lots of people." Detective started going through her papers.

"So you have a sketch?" Morgan asked.

"It's a little vague." Spencer observed.

"That's because of this guy's other countermeasure. Take a look." Detective circled a man in a hat, hiding his face from the cameras with her finger. "So this guy right here, that's our killer."

"It looks like a fedora." Todd said.

"So he's drawing attention to his face while simultaneously obscuring it?" Rowan asked.

"It's called peacocking. The adornment of some sort of flashy affect to sort of try to distract witnesses." Spencer nodded awkwardly as Rowan looked up at him.

"So none of your witness statements agree?" Morgan questioned.

"He had a mole, he didn't have a mole. He had a gap between his teeth, no, his teeth were perfect." Detective sighed again.

"Detective, we're gonna have to have a sit-down with Ashley Holden. She got the best look at the unsub."

"Well, I wish I could make that happen, but unfortunately, the family has decided to stop cooperating."

"Why is that?" Hotch asked, furrowing his brows.

"They won't say. Yesterday the mother would move heaven and earth to help find her daughter's killer. Today, no, thanks." Detective said, her voice sounding disappointed.

"I'll take care of this." Todd said before dialing a number on her phone and stepping into the hall.

"The unsub killed the prostitutes in separate pay-by-the-hour motels in fulton county, Right there in one of the poorer neighborhoods the area." Spencer returned from getting himself and morgan a cup of coffee. But he returned with 3 cups. One filled with hot chocolate for his favorite golden eyed doctor. She smiled at him gratefully. She hadn't asked him for a cup. "Now, Vanessa Holden's apartment was in the peachtree district, where there's a lot of big money." Spencer took a seat next to Rowan, who was across from Morgan, sitting on another desk.

"Based on the geography, he isn't just changing his victimology, he's changed his whole tax bracket. His lifestyle must have been almost completely different before whatever triggered him." Rowan set her hot chocolate next to her.

"The high profile of Vanessa Holden bears that out. By killing her, he was climbing the social ladder." Morgan added.

"If that's the case, this unsub had a long way to climb. Both prostitutes advertised here.

Look at their pictures." Rossi pulled out a newspaper with multiple prostitutes on the page.

"Subservient positioning, asking to be dominated." Hotch said, studying the photos.

"Promising to come to you? That cuts out the social interaction of meeting on a street corner." Emily noted.

"That's a long way from a self-assured unsub who hits the clubs." Morgan observed.

"Except he took a year off between the murders." Rowan states.

"Maybe he took that time to change himself." Hotch suggested.

"That's impossible." Morgan said, blatant.

"Why?" Rowan asked.

"Well, I mean, you're talking about a total transformation here. I mean how you talk, I mean how you dress, how you think about yourself." Morgan said confidently.

"Difficult maybe, but not altogether impossible." Rowan sighed. A thought ran across her mind, she ignored it. Spencer took notice to her seemingly internal struggle.

"He already started killing. There must have been a secondary trigger that motivated him to change who he was.So if you're gonna transform yourself, how would you do it?" Rossi questioned.

"A steady diet of self-help books. Start hitting the gym?" Emily listed off ways to self improve.

"You have to learn how to read people. I mean, what is a pick-up? It's basically just a profile." Spencer looked around awkwardly.

"Decoding cues of interest and recoding similar ones." Morgan shrugged.

"If you're too obvious, you turn off your target. If you're oblivious, your target moves on to a better profiler." Emily informed.

"That doesn't sound like something he could do on his own." Hotch states.

"No. He'd have to go somewhere to learn it."

A self-help class maybe?" Rowan said.

"Uh, wait a minute. Come on. An unsub who kills prostitutes. Is he really thinking about signing up for a Tony Robbins seminar?" Morgan pointed out.

"He would if he found a class in the same place he found the prostitutes." Rossi pointed at a large ad at the top right corner of the page.

'LEARN HOW TO PICK UP CHICKS' 

Let's face it. We all want to have sex. But women are a mystery. Take my class and learn how to unlock desire'

"Our unsub is a confident alpha male. He is white. He's between the ages of 25 and 30. He's in excellent physical shape to overpower women and also to feed his self-image." Emily spoke proud and confident in front of the PD.

"He has an obsession with cleaning. He probably works in some service industry, wiping up after others, convinced everyone looks down at him. His change in himself and his victimology reflects that." Rossi continued the profile.

"This is the kind of guy who wants to stand out in a crowd. He's taken a class in how to pick up women.So he'll repeat a series of well-rehearsed lines and mind games." Morgan said.

"He may be uneducated, but he's by no means stupid. Taking this class has given him the ability to read verbal cues and body language." Hotch states.

"One classic routine the viper promotes is called the push-pull. He'll insert himself between two women and immediately after complimenting one, He'll deliver a subtle insult, then pay attention to the other." Spencer looks over to Todd. "Those are really nice earrings. I like those."

"Thanks." Todd played with her earring a bit.

"My grandmother wears a lot of fake jewelry also. It looks nice. Ignoring the one woman puts her in direct competition with her friend." Spencer earned a laugh from the group.

"I was just demonstrating. Sorry." Spencer said, earning an eye roll and a chuckle from Todd.

"Well, we've mapped the hot spots he hits. He frequents the same clubs that the viper does, So we need eyes and ears in every single one." Detective added once the group settled from their laugh.

"Circulate the sketch as widely as possible. We'll need everyone aware that there's a killer out there.

Thank you very much." Hotch concluded.

"I think i might just stay home and man the tip line tonight. Clubs aren't really my thing." Spencer started.

"Not a chance, kid. I need a wingman. Come on, now." Morgan said, nudging Spencer in the arm.

"Actually, there is another angle we need to pursue." Rossi intervened.

"We still don't know what made the unsub change his victimology, what made him stop killing prostitutes and move into the clubs." Hotch said.

"The answer might be something in viper's class, But to figure that out, we need to profile the teacher."

"You need to bait him, then, with someone he sees as a challenge. We need to study his style up close and personal." Rowan said.

"It's gonna take someone that he's already attracted to." Spencer added, stifling a smile while looking at Emily.

"Oh, this is really gonna suck."

"Don't worry. You won't be alone. We're going to have Kennedy go with you." Hotch said, earning looks from all three of the women. And Spencer.

"Prentiss? Kennedy?" Hotch asked from outside the locker room.

"Yeah. Come on in." Emily said while putting on some earrings.

"Hey, we're just about ready." Rowan said, not terribly excited.

"You're ok with this, right? Both of you?" Hotch asked, concern in his eyes.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Sadly, I've actually dated people worse than Viper." Emily chuckled

"As long as I have Emily with me I'll be okay." Rowan and Emily smiled at each other.

The truth was, Rowan almost envied Emily's confidence. Rowan's self esteem wasn't the greatest, her curvatures having a lot to do with that. Most of the women she worked around were much more thin.

"Is something going on with Jordan? Um, you asked me to keep an eye on her. Earplugs, Rowan." Emily said, not wanting Hotch to get angry with her for saying something about it in front of Rowan.

"And, frankly, I've noticed some tension."

"I caught her in a lie. She cut a corner to get us in with the Holden family." Hotch said, seriousness in his voice returning.

"Did she misrepresent the bureau?" Emily questioned.

"She misrepresented herself." Hotch said, disappointed.

"So how long is she gonna be in the doghouse?" Emily asked.

"Until she proves she's competent."

"That's gonna be tricky if you're scrutinizing her every move."

"Prentiss, you seem to do ok."

"I think in order for Jordan to prove she's good at this job, It's not gonna happen under a magnifying glass. You're gonna have to give her the opportunity."

"You have something in mind?" Hotch asked.

"Why don't you let her come with us? It's a good learning opportunity for Rowan, why can't it be for Jordan too?" Emily asked, snapping Rowan out of her thoughts.

"Okay, that may work. But keep an eye on her, both of you. Well, I'll let you get to it." Hotch exited the room.

Emily looked over to Rowan, wanting to say something along the lines of 'a girls night on the job' but she noticed Rowan was just staring at the dress hanging from her locker door.

"Rowan, are you alright?" Emily asked, concerned for the younger woman.

"Yeah, I-I'm just sort of, anxious. Clubs aren't my scene and I haven't even worn at this dress in years I just bring it in my go bag to be safe but I spent the whole time hoping I never get put into a situation-"

"Hey, breathe." Emily grabbed Rowans shoulders. Rowan followed Emily's direction, calming her down.

"You and Jordan are just so confident and gorgeous-"

"You are beautiful, Rowan. Not only is that coming from a friend, but that's coming from a co worker that was honestly jealous when you first walked into the BAU." Emily smiled. Rowan gave her a confused look and turned Rowan to face the small mirror in the locker.

"We have about 15 minutes. Let's darken your makeup a bit, get you in that dress right before you strap on those high heels and get going." Rowan nodded and swallowed at Emily's words.

"So how's it going?" Morgan asked Spencer over the music of the club.

"Not good. I gave the profile to one woman, she asked if i was the unsub." Spencer said, disappointed. "How are you doing?"

"Well, i gave out all my fliers." Morgan chuckled.

"How many phone numbers did you get?" Spencer asked, knowingly.

"None. I'm working a case here, kid." Spencer gave Morgan a look after his words. "Ok, 4 were offered, but I didn't take any of them."

"Let me school you real quick-" Morgan started, but Spencer shook his head. "Ah, okay. You don't want to pick up a girl, because you've already got one in mind."

"I didn't say that at all." Spencer swallowed, nervously.

"You didn't have to." Morgan chuckled. "Look, Rowan, Prentiss and Todd are going to be here soon, looking all fly, so after we're finished for the night, why don't you talk to her? See if she wants to go out, just you two?"

"She already makes me incredibly nervous, what makes you think I'll be able to function while she's 'all done up'" Spencer asked.

"I don't know but we're about to find out." Morgan spotted the 3 ladies.

"I can't turn around, Morgan." Spencer said, feeling his chest tighten.

"You're going to have to, she's walking this way. I'm assuming she wants to say hello." Morgan watched as Rowan looked around the club to find Spencer.

Her stomach was in knots, especially because her co-workers were going to see her in a dress she wouldn't ever wear under normal circumstances.

The dress hugged her curves in all the right ways and landed about 3 inches above her knee. On her left side, there was a 4 inch slit in her dress, kept together by a lace mesh, the same lace mesh that covered her shoulders, chest, collar bones and about half her arms. The sweetheart neckline was defined attached to the lace but defined by the solid color of the rest of the dress. All a very dark blue.

Her hair was curled into very loose waves and her golden eyes were darkened by more eye makeup than usual. Her lips painted in a satin burgundy color.

Spencer mustered up the courage to turn around. He took in Rowan's attire and look, and he couldn't believe she could take his breath away any further than she already could.

"Hey guys!" Rowan smiled, hiding her nervousness.

'Well, look at you, darlin'! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Morgan chuckled as she approached, nudging Spencer's back lightly to where Rowan couldn't see. Spencer cleared his throat.

"Thank you." Rowan said appreciatively, she looked at Spencer, about to say something when Spencer word vomited.

"You l-look wonderful." Spencer smiled lightly, trying to slow his breathing.

If Rowan could have materialized his words and but them in her pocket, she would have. Oh, and the dress had pockets, one of the reasons she was more willing to wear it.

Just before she could thank him, Jordan came up behind her.

"Come on, we got Emily's signal." Jordan grabbed Rowan's hand and tugged her away. Rowan stole one last look at the men she left behind. Spencer stared after her before turning back to Morgan.

'Reid, are you with me?" Morgan joked.

"Uh, I'm not sure."

Jordan and Rowan approached the table that Emily and Viper, aka possible unsub, were standing.

"Is, um, this the guy you were telling me about?" Jordan asked as she took a drink and leaned against the table.

"Viper, meet SSA Jordan Todd and Dr. Rowan Kennedy from the BAU. Jordan, Rowan, this is Viper. God's gift to women." Emily smiled at the two girls.

"God sure has a sense of humor." Rowan said, eyeing the guy. She didn't like the vibes he was giving off.

"You brought friends." Viper said, taking a drink and not looking happy.

"You promised if I met you on your turf, you'd show me something special. So let's see it." Emily asked with a sly smile.

"Yeah, Viper, who gets pushed and who gets pulled tonight?" Jordan said, her tone sassy.

"You see, eye contact is a very powerful gauge. It's why you tend to look away from someone you're attracted to because you know instinctively what a dead giveaway it is. But your brain goes there anyway. Images, fantasies." Paul looked between Rowan and Jordan.

"Don't flatter yourself." Jordan spit out in staccato words.

"The eyes don't lie. They dilate. It's a chemical response. We can't control it." Viper said.

"Ok, 15 seconds." Emily stepped in closer to Jordan.

"What do you see?" Rowan asked.

"Nope. No change. No dilation." Emily chuckled.

"I guess chemically we're not a match." Jordan fake pouted.

"What about me?" Rowan asked Emily. Emily stared into Rowan's eyes and saw no change.

"Only because you have someone else on the mind. Once that happens, the attraction center in the brain shuts down." Viper's words made Rowan stiffen. He was right, at least in her case.

"Your turn." Viper says to Emily.

"No." Emily smiles.

"Are you scared I might be right? Yeah?" Viper thought her had her.

"No, Paul, I'm baffled. I cannot figure out what the unsub could have learned from you." Emily was blunt and brutal.

"What do you mean? He took my look, my words, everything that makes me successful to the opposite sex."

"Really? Because that guy can get beautiful women into his apartment. I wouldn't let you on my facebook page." Jordan said, her tone sassy and strong.

"Oh, you're on facebook?" Rowan asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah! I'll friend both of you!" Jordan smiled

"I gave him the routines that made him what he is." Viper began to get defensive.

"It must all be in the salesmanship then." Rowan said with a shrug.

"'Cause we've been watching all the women in the club." Jordan said, waving her finger around the club.

"And not one of them has looked at you. So, who do you really go home with, Paul? Or--or do you go home alone?" Emily's voice dripped with sarcastic sympathy.

"That was really good, ladies." Viper chuckled for a moment. "That was really good. Don't you think I know why you're here? One of my students copies my moves, and you're here to get inside my mind. Don't you see? I confronted my queen bee a long time ago."

"What's a queen bee?" Jordan asked, curious.

"You are." His voice began to sound venomous. "And so is every other confident girl in here who's loud when she's drunk. The social butterfly, the alpha female. Every student who's ever taken my class has had one in his life. And the first exercise my students have to complete is to confront their queen bee. It could be the girl who cheated on you or the prom date who stood you up. But you find them and squash them." Viper leaned in closer to the women.

"Oh, but don't worry doctor. You're not a queen bee. Chubby girls don't have it in them most of the time. You're not on anyone's list." Viper spat his words at Rowan. Jordan and Emily exchanged a look before Emily grabbed Rowan's arm and tugged her away before she could process what foul, hateful words he said to her.

Rowan stayed silent as the other two women talked to Hotch on the phone.

"Our unsub knew Vanessa Holden." Emily said through the phone.

"How do you know?" Hotch's voice asked, with a tad bit of confusion.

"It's viper's first confidence building exercise. Find the source of your first rejection and make her pay for it." Jordan said.

"That's why he stopped seeing prostitutes. He took viper's class and decided to confront Vanessa Holden." Emily concluded. Hotch hung up the phone to speak with the family again.

Rowan had stayed silent for most of the way back to the precinct. Emily and Jordan both knew what was wrong. But an officer had picked them up. The conversation needed to be private.

Once back in the locker room, Rowan wanted nothing more than to take off her dress, take off her makeup and curl in a ball.

"Rowan," Emily started, Jordan right behind her. Rowan paused.

"I haven't been called something like that in 255 days." She turned to her co workers.

"Rowan-" Jordan began but was cut off.

"255 days and I thought I was better." Rowan looked down at her body.

"Better? What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"I used to be a bit bigger. But I lost weight through the police and FBI academies but I guess I'm still not all the way happy with how I look." Rowan couldn't meet her team members eyes.

"Rowan, don't let that sorry excuse of a man get to you. You are gorgeous. Body, mind and soul." Emily said.

"Girl, if I had curves like yours, I would never let anyone bring me down. I'd probably be married by now too." Jordan said, making the three woman chuckle.

Rowan knew they were being good friends, but either of them could have anyone they wanted. Rowan was almost sure that the one she wanted, even if she hadn't admitted it outloud yet, didn't feel the same, for varying reasons.

"I need the three of you out here, the unsub has kidnapped another victim." Hotch said from the other side of the locker room door.

Garcia narrowed down the suspect list and forwarded the whole team his address.

The team and swat all arrived at the scene and proceed to surround the building. Morgan busted through the french doors and tackled the unsub. Spencer helped the kidnapped bartender get to an ambulance so she could get checked out.

Hotch and Rossi found the unsubs mother in her bedroom, on a dialysis machine. They found the secondary trigger.

Since it was late on a saturday night, the team decided to stay for one more night before heading home the next Sunday morning. They all met for breakfast the next morning around 9 am before take off at noon.

"Has anyone seen Rowan?" Spencer asked, after her being 15 minutes and 26 seconds late. He noticed she was never late. To anything. She would normally show up 15 minutes early.

"She had a bit of a rough night." Emily said, not wanting to give too many details. Spencer immediately became worried.

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked, looking between Emily and Jordan.

"She drink too much?" Morgan asked.

"No, just something Viper said to her. She let it get to her." Jordan said, looking at her plate.

'What is it? What did he say? Why did he say it?" Spencer asked the questions rapid fire.

"I'm not sure why he said it. It's not something she takes with a grain of salt, though." Emily's face growing more upset.

"We tried to make her feel a bit better last night but she politely excused herself from any conversation." Jordan added.

"What room is she in?" Spencer asked, tapping his foot anxiously. His heart twisted at the fact that she could be in emotional pain.

'Reid-" Hotch began before making eye contact with Morgan, who shook his head as if to say 'just let him go to her.'

"525." Hotch said, Spencer immediately shot from the table and headed to the 5th floor.

Once off the elevator, he searched for 525 and stopped in front of the door with that number across it.

On the other side of the door, Rowan was wide awake but hadn't moved half an inch since Emily and Jordan woke her up over an hour ago.

She couldn't explain very well as to why the scumbags' words hurt her.

Spencer knocked on the door quickly.

"Who is it?" Rowan asked, her voice sounding muffled and far away from the door.

"Spencer." He said, standing close to the door, to try to hear if she would open the door for him. About 17 seconds went by and the door was being unlocked for him. Once the door was open, Spencer took in the sight of her.

Her hair was messy, still wavy from the night before but her makeup was completely removed, showing her natural, fair skin and freckles. Her frame curvy frame was hidden with a baggy graphic t shirt and some blue flannel pajama pants.

"Hey." She smiled weakly.

Spencer didn't let her get another word out before embracing her in a hug. He wasn't sure if words were what she needed. But he knew that hugging her made him feel better. Maybe a hug from him would have the same effect…

Rowan wrapped her arms around Spencers torso and rested her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat again.

"I don't know why I let him get to me. His words should mean nothing." Rowan said. He could hear the pain in her voice.

"You don't have to tell me what he said. All I know is that you are a strong and intelligent woman. The words of a stranger, will fall off your shoulders in no time." Spencer hugged her even tighter. He didn't want her to have to relive the pain of the words by repeating them.

"Thank you." She said, being ever grateful for him.

"No need." Spencer began. "Now, let's get you a bagel so you don't get hungry on the jet." Spencer felt Rowan's chuckle against his chest and he grinned.

"I'm in pajamas, Spencer. Let me become presentable."

"You look wonderful." He kissed the top of her head.

"I don't think I would ever live it down if I showed up to a team breakfast in pajamas." She chuckled as she, hesitantly, pulled away from his arms.

"You have a point. I'll wait in the hall and walk you down." Spencer stepped outside of her room and let her get changed.

Spencer knew how dangerously close he was to falling for this woman. The thought not only intrigued him, but it scared him as well. He had heard so many horror stories of love gone wrong or bad. But he had also heard much more stories of love lasting a lifetime.

Meanwhile, inside of Rowan's room. She caught her breath and cleared her head for a moment. She was afraid of some things. Dangerous animals, death, sometimes the dark and a few more big things. Getting hurt and losing another person she loved was one of those 'Big things'. But all that fear, melted away in the arms or presence of Spencer.

Hello, peoples! Thanks for reading once again. I got a different laptop and it's smaller than the one I had been using before so if there are mistakes, please bare with them, lol. It's almost 3:30 am where I am rn but I love writing this almost as much as I love sleep. Feel free to review (please try to keep things positive or constructive, no more negative) or even PM me if you'd like!


	7. Chapter 7

'Sergeant manuel rodriguez and officer thomas kayser were killed in the line of duty.' The words coming from the TV stung each member of the BAU team.

"That's 3 officers in the past 4 days. After the first shooting, the phoenix police department assumed gang involvement." Jordan informed, passing out the case files.

"Pretty reasonable assumption." Rossi said.

"True. Almost 30% of all officer slayings are gang related." Jordan finished passing out the case files.

"Technically it's closer to 40%. If a cop isn't killed during a commission of a crime, gang involvement is highly likely." Spencer said, Rowan smiled at him from across the table. She loved hearing his statistics.

"Actually, their precinct commander believes it may be a serial and has asked for our help."

"What makes him doubt the gang theory?" Rowan asked, looking into the file.

"A couple of things. Last night's victims were killed exactly the same way as the first. Shot in the neck. Something that the press didn't release." Jordan answered.

"Well, now, wait. There could still be a gang behind this. Killers working together could establish the same M.O." Emily noted.

"If they're all members of the same gang, I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to use the same MO." Rowan shrugged.

"Commander Marks hasn't ruled it out, but there's another detail." Jordan said, her voice sounding disappointed.

"Trophies. Killer took their badges." Rossi read from the notes.

"Gang members don't usually take trophies. They don't need to." Derek said, looking bothered.

"This is an unsub with something to prove. And he's got the entire city on edge." Hotch breathed, eyebrows furrowed.

"Kill those who protect and serve and nobody feels safe." Emily's words left a haunting feeling in the air.

"Wheels up in 30." Hotch said, standing from the table after gathering his belongings.

"Go ahead, Garcia." Hotch said as he shuffled through papers on the jet.

"Ok, while you birds have been in the air, I got the 411 on the first shooting. Apparently every saturday night, Phoenix P.D. sets up a dui checkpoint." Garcia started. Faint sounds of her typing comes through the phone.

"Is that common knowledge?" Emily asked.

"Mais, oui. Public awareness is part of the deterrent. So our unsub blows past said checkpoint at 90 mph, And is pursued by a officer Jason Kessinger. Kessinger pulls the car over, approaches the driver's side window, Where he is shot in the throat. Mon dieu. He was a single parent, 2 daughters." Garcia said sadly through the phone.

"So, the unsub planned ahead, used the dui stop to set his trap, and then lured the officer to his death." Rossi said. Rowan looked at the photo of the two orphaned girls.

"It could have been personal. The unsub might have had a problem with these particular officers." Emily states.

"Or with law enforcement in general. He's sending a message." Hotch added.

"He could also be trying to wipe out the police department. Maybe he believes there are dirty cops or that they have wronged him in some way." Rowan said, studying each victim.

"Criminals, gang members, academy washouts, security, rent a cops, teenagers, and that's just a start. I mean, the list of people who have a problem with police officers is a long one." Spencer said, narrowing his eyes.

"The victims were shot in the neck, so the unsub knew they'd be wearing body armor. And he used a dui checkpoint." Morgan said.

"I mean, both incidents show an active understanding of police procedure." Spencer looked at each of the papers.

"Which narrows it down to anybody who watches television and has heard of the cops show." Rowan frowned.

"We need to cover victimology. Garcia, find out everything you can about the officers killed. See what they had in common besides their uniforms." Hotch assigned.

"Will do, but I should warn you, it will not be cake Because I have been on the phone with these guys all morning, and pulling files from them has been like pulling molars." Garcia admitted.

"Is there a problem?" Hotch inquired.

"You know, aside from the obvious grief for their fallen comrades, And their fear of being used as target practice, I get the distinct impression from their crabby behavior, They are none too pleased their boss is outsourcing this investigation to the FBI, so be prepared to hit a blue wall of resistance." Garcia finished.

"Commander Marks, I'm SSA Hotchner. This is agent Todd. Agents Rossi, Prentiss, Morgan. As well as Dr. Spencer Reid and Dr. Rowan Kennedy. Thank you for inviting us." Hotch introduced the whole team.

"And thank you all for coming. Although I'd like to have a word if you don't mind." Commander asked Hotch.

"Of course." Hotch agreed.

"Excuse me. Uh, lieutenant evans. Lieutenant evans will answer any questions the rest of you may have." Commander called over a man in a suit, before him and Hotch walked away.

"Sorry, that was officer Kayser's wife. They'd only been married a couple of months. She seems to think that the FBI is here to save the day. Is that what you're going to do, agents?" Lieutenant Evans asked, looking between all of the agents. Rowan, as well as her whole team, could already see the pissing war beginning.

"Techs have gone over this frame by frame. There's no way to identify the shooter." Commander said, taking a seat as the small group studied the dash cam footage.

"Approximate height and weight, that's about all we got." A deputy said.

"The unsub's face isn't the only way to identify him. We also look at specific behavioral traits. How he walks, how he carries the weapon, body language. Things along that line." Rowan said, sipping her hot chocolate.

Little did she know, none of the precincts they've been to carried hot chocolate in any break rooms, but Spencer opted to carry a small box with him, just in case she wanted it.

"These are the reasons you don't believe it's a gang?" The tone carried by Commander's voice was unbelieving.

"The shooter established what we call a signature, something he did during the murders that wasn't actually necessary. Not part of his MO, but identical in every attack." Hotch informed.

"In this case, the unsub took the officer's badges. He's symbolically stripping them of their power and authority. This act is indicative of someone who is looking to gain self-esteem." Spencer added.

"Gang members and other assailants who work together kill for different reasons, But usually it's not to gain confidence, 'cause they already have it." Hotch informed.

"Hotch, you see that? Can we pause this? Ok, now zoom in and press play. Taking the badge would have taken a few seconds." Spencer noticed that the unsubs behavior was a bit odd.

"He's lingering." Hotch determined.

"Doing what?" Commander asked.

"That's a good question."

"Ballistics aren't back yet, But the preliminary ME reports suggest the weapon used to kill officer Beck was not a .357" Spencer said, the only one standing in front of the evidence board.

The team had been given 4 hours to prove that it was not a gang member commiting the original crimes. After 2 additional shootings in the past 12 hours, the entire city, including the press, the chief and department were on high alert.

Diablo, a local banger, shot a cop and his partner, but they MO was different. Completely different.

"I spoke to Garcia. Beck arrested Diablo twice on drug charges, last time sent him away for 10 years. Diablo was just released on parole last week." Hotch informed the group.

"So Diablo went after the cop who put him away assuming it would be lumped in with the other murders. The unsub would take the fall." Rossi concluded.

"Hey, it almost worked." EMily said with a slight shrug.

"If it weren't for those pesky behavioral differences." Rowan said, looking at the changes between the two most recent shootings.

"Lieutenant, what did you find?" Hotch asked as Lieutenant walked into the room.

"Well, I pulled up that information on Playboy's lieutenant, Bobby Q." Evans handed Morgan a file folder.

"There's not much there." Morgan observed.

"And you're thinking playboy was right, that we didn't pay enough attention to the case." Evans sounded annoyed.

"Did you?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Look, the majority of homicides in this city are gang killings. Most times we spend time and resources following trails that all lead to the same place anyway. We just assumed this was just another one of those trails. Being in a gang shortens your life expectancy, So it's no big surprise when a gangbanger winds up dead." Evans defended.

"Same thing could be said about being a cop. The job involves a fair amount of risk, so a percentage of untimely deaths is practically inevitable." Spencer informed the group. Rowan smiled at him.

"The M.O.is the same as our unsub's. Did, um, playboy tell you if the killer took a trophy?" Rossi stood to add something to the evidence board.

"He said Bobby Q's necklace was missing. Yeah, that's in the report. Big chain, solid gold. Just figured the killer took it to pawn it." Evans shrugged.

"Or as a souvenir." Rossi bounced back at Evans.

"Fits the signature. He built up to this. We need to go further back." Hotch Dialed a number on the conference phone. "Garcia, can you pull everything in the Phoenix area that matches the same MO as our unsub, not just police officers."

"Ok. So i'm searching homicides in phoenix in, what, the last 2 months?" Garcia asked.

"Make it three." Hotch requested.

"Got it. Murders, shootings, specifically neck wounds. Oh, I got a guy named Robert Quinones, nickname Bobby Q."

"We already have that one. Anything else?" Rowan started, waiting for Garcias magic.

"Ah, just one more. A bouncer at a bar in downtown phoenix, Mickey Reese. Weapon's a .357 magnum. Interesting. It says here the victim was wearing a ballistic vest. Apparently they don't serve Shirley Temples at this establishment."

"If the bouncer was wearing a vest, that could be how our unsub developed his MO." Emily suggested.

"Send us everything you've got." Hotch requested again.

"Sure. Done." Garcia confirmed.

"All right, we got gangbangers, bouncers and cops. All pretty tough targets; victims capable of defending themselves." Morgans arms crossed.

"As the unsub's sense of power escalated, so did his confidence. Leading to bigger and more difficult prey." Rossi explained the escalation.

"That makes sense. Risky deaths would increase the unsub's feeling of superiority. Same thing with using a . 357 magnum. It would make him feel powerful." Spencer thought aloud.

"Cops are at the top of that list. High profile, always on alert, and they're gonna make headlines." Emily added.

"Killing a gangbanger isn't easy. They're always armed, travel in packs." Evans knitted his eyebrows together.

"The bouncer's the earliest. It was a pretty simple attack, no carefully thought out plan. He could have been his first victim." Morgan suggested.

"We need to figure out where their paths crossed. Morgan, you, Rossi and the lieutenant go check out the bar. We'll keep digging." Hotch assigned.

After Rossi, Morgan and Emily took down a 'fight club' of sorts, they got the ringleader to a sketch artist, to get a good description of the unsub.

"The man we're looking for is a narcissist and a psychopath desperate to prove his masculinity. He does this by going after high risk targets like gang members and police officers." Hotch said, arms crossed in front of the entire precinct.

"Because he's a narcissist, this unsub will be following the investigation closely." Rowan said, standing between Emily and Spencer.

"By pretending to take over the investigation, we've put ourselves above the local police, thus suggesting that we're tougher to take out, and issuing the unsub a challenge that he won't be able to ignore." Spencer added.

"And painting a target directly on agent Hotchner's back." Rossi said, his voice intense.

"All the attacks, with the exception of the last one, have taken place in the twelve's territory." Spencer continued. "This is the unsub's hunting ground, and he's unlikely to stray from it."

"Locations have multiple vanish points for the shooter, But limited access and exit routes for his victims. We'll be looking for a similar situation. This should happen very quickly." Morgan announced to the officers listening.

"Don't forget, this guy managed to take out 5 cops by himself. He smart, and he's fearless. He won't be easy to take down."

Just after giving the profile to the department, JOrdan rushed in with news.

"Male caller. He says he knows where the unsub lives, and it fits the criteria." Jordan handed Spencer a small map. Spencer placed his hand behind Rowan's shoulder, getting her attention and bringing her to the board.

"It's the twelve's territory, just off the main street." Rowan pointed at the exact address, than trailing her finger to the main road.

"Looks like there's a series of smaller feeders and allies nearby. This could be it." Spencer said, finishing Rowan's thought.

"Let's go." Evans was just about to high tail it out of there when Hotch stopped him.

"Slow down, Lieutenant. He'll be expecting us." Hotch began.

"All of us. This is his last stand. He's going to want to make it count." Morgan continued.

"Yeah, well, this time we know about it and we're ready." Evans defended.

"His trap could still work." Rowan sighed.

"What do you know about the neighborhood?" Hotch asked.

"It's rough. Lots of dead-end streets, allies. Major cross street, 17th." Evans informed.

"Residential? Any businesses at all?" Morgan questioned.

"There's a gas station a couple of blocks down, but that's about it." Evans concluded. Spencer dialed a number.

"Hey, Garcia?" SPencer asked.

"Yes?" Penelope's voice came through the phone.

"Can you get us a satellite image of 15th avenue and Gelson?" Rowan asked, standing close to Spencer as he leaned over the phone.

"But of course. Ok, real time satellite image shows Not a whole heck of a lot. I've got a 2-story apartment building, no activity of any kind, no cars out in front. Oh, there's a car down the street. No heat registering, engine must be cool. Satellite monitoring the last 12 hours is like library silent. A truck and 2 cars left in the a.m., nothing came in." Penelope finished.

"Thank you, Garcia." Spencer thanked before turning back to the board and grabbing the small map he'd just hung. "All right, there's a major street in front on the east side, an ally, And 2 smaller streets to the north and south right here."

"Lieutenant, commander, I need a sniper here and here. Once they're set, the bulk of the squad cars can approach from the south, And the rest of us from the east very quietly. From this point forward, everybody goes in on foot. Morgan, you and i go in first. Rossi, Prentiss and Kennedy behind us. Jordan, you and Reid stay here and work the tip line." Hotch assigned each of the agents.

"Stay safe, my loves." Penelope's voice came through the phone.

"Thanks, Garcia." Emily said, just as the team dispersed. Rowan went to follow Emily, when her arm was grabbed gently. She turned to see Spencer, still holding her arm.

"Be careful. Okay?" Spencer asked, his chocolate brown eyes filled with worry.

"Always." Rowan laid her hand on top of Spencer's. Spencer dropped his arm and let her go with Emily. Rowan glanced back one more time, Spencer still looking after her.

As the assigned members and flood of officers surrounded the building, the air was quiet.

Rowan followed Emily and Rossi, her glock drawn and ready. But it was a false alarm. The unsub was nowhere to be found.

The 5 agents, Rossi, Hotch, Emily, Morgan and Kennedy, discussed a plan of action for once they got back to the precinct.

"If he wasn't at the address, where else would he be? Was Garcia able to pull up any work history?" Rowan asked from the back seat.

"No, he'd stay close to the investigation. His target has shifted." Rossi said, looking over to Hotch.

"He's going to be waiting at the precinct, isn't he?" Rowan asked, her frown came through her voice.

Once back at the precinct, there was a 'decoy Hotch' waiting for the unsub to fall into the trap the agents laid. Once the unsub had lost sight of the decoy Hotch, he was apprehended and taken in.

In transfer from the PD to jail, the unsub was shot by Playboy, wanting to get revenge on the man who killed his Lieutenant.

Once back at the BAU, the team did a short meeting, going over reports and such. After the meeting, Morgan approached Spencer.

"What's going on, pretty boy?" Morgan asked SPencer, slapping his hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"We just got out of the same meeting, Morgan." Spencer said, oblivious to the underlying nature of the question he'd been asked.

"No, not at this moment. I'm talking about that pretty little doctor of yours." Morgan asked, sitting in Spencers seat as he gathered his things.

"There's nothing going on." SPencer hung his head for a moment after sighing out the words.

"You're a genius but you're totally oblivious, aren't you?" Morgan crossed his arms and looked up at the young doctor.

"What do you mean?" Spencer raised his eyebrow.

"She's so into you, kid."

Spencer felt a blush on his cheeks.

"What makes you say so?"

"Just go ask her out to dinner or something. You'll get an idea." Morgan eye rolled.

Spencer nodded and looked over to the beautiful young doctor, she smiled as she spoke with Emily. He studied Rowan, swallowing his nerves.

Had he really agreed to ask Rowan out? On a date? He wanted to more than anything but her eyes shut him down from the inside out. He threw his bag around his shoulders and stepped over to Emily and Rowan slowly. Once he reached them, Rowan spotted him and smiled.

"Hey." Rowan's grin could have moved mountains in Spencer's world.

"Can I borrow you for a minute?" Spencer asked, his glance twitching to Emily. Emily raised her eyebrows and looked over to Morgan, who was cheesing ear-to-ear.

"I'll call you." Emily nudged Rowans arm before heading over to talk with Derek. Rowan nodded than moved her focus back to Spencer.

"You alright?" Rowan asked, looking concerned.

"Uhm, yes. I-I'm fine. What are you doing tonight?" Spencer asked, feeling his stomach do flips.

"I didn't have anything planned." Rowan said, not expecting what was coming to her.

"Would you like to accompany me to dinner? Like a real dinner. With you and I at a uhm, restaurant." Spencer tried to spit out the words without completely word vomiting or wanting to abort mission.

Rowan realized what was happening and she felt her chest tighten and her words leave her for a moment.

"A-Are you asking me on a date?" Rowan found the words.

"That I am." Spencer smiled awkwardly, cheeks red.

"Well," Rowan began, breaking eye contact with Spencer. "I'm saying yes, than."

"Wait, really?" Spencer seemed taken aback by her response.

"Of course. I'd love to go on a date with you." Rowan smiled, her nerves slowly, but surely, melting away. "What did you have in mind?"

"Honestly, I didn't think I'd get this far." Spencer chuckled for a moment, Rowan did the same. "But there is a little italian place a few block away."

"Perfect."

The pair walked with each other out of the BAU office, leaving Emily and Morgan behind.

"Did that really just happen?" Emily asked, semi-shocked.

"Didn't take as much pep talking as I thought it would." Morgan chuckled.

"It's honestly about time." Emily shrugged.

OOOOOOOooooo chit things are getting real. Thank you for reading and I hope you decide to review, Fav/Follow, pm if you'd like.


	8. Chapter 8

"This is Orange County, California. Judy Hannity, Real estate broker and a mother, was shotgunned on the 91 freeway." Jordan passed out the case files to each of the agents.

"She survived this?" Emily asked, looking at the photos.

"Barely. She's paralyzed from the waist down. The second and third victims were both d.o.a. There were different vehicles for each shooting. A small black suv, a black sedan, a white sedan, no makes, no plates." Jordan informed.

"No solid witnesses?" Morgan asked.

"The first victim described the shooter as a normal, middle-aged white guy in an suv." Jordan shrugged, wishing she had more information.

"She gave that description but she couldn't remember anything else?" Hotch asked.

"Isn't that consistent with trauma?"

"Actually, no. Trauma victims either remember everything or nothing. Typically, it depends on the person and the trauma. Predisposal to traumatic events or mental illnesses tend to factor into that as well." Rowan said, eyebrows furrowed, looking through the file.

"So wait, the third victim was shot last week, we just got the phone call today?" Spencer asked. Rowan tried to ignore his voice. Her chest flared in pain.

"Until the third shooting, the locals weren't convinced it was a serial shooter. There were different cars, and the first shooting there was a different weapon." Jordan said.

"It's the same weapon." Rossi stood and put some papers in front of Jordan and Emily.

"The shot pattern on the second and third one are much wider, though." Spencer spoke again.

"He sawed off the shotgun. It's the same shooter. He's evolving, and quickly." Rossi sighed before sitting down.

"The media has already dubbed him the road warrior." Rowan rolled her eyes at Jordan's statement.

"Why does the media have to glamorize everything?" Rowan's voice bitter, taking most of the team by surprise.

"That explains why they wanted us there so quickly." Emily said.

"What do you mean?"

"This type of unsub is the hardest to catch. Totally impersonal victims. A third of the crime scene flees with him and his vehicle. The victim's car's a wreck. And the last third, the road, it's contaminated by all the other cars that drive over it." Morgan spoke with his hands as well as words.

"So how do we get him?" Jordan wondered aloud.

"We build a solid profile. We release it to the public with an appeal for help. Somebody knows this guy." Hotch said.

* * *

"Thea salinas, sheriff's county homicide. I'm running the task force." A tall, medium skinned woman was wavy brown hair greeted the group of FBI agents.

"I'm special agent Jordan Todd, special agents Rossi, Hotchner, Prentiss and Morgan. And these are doctors Spencer Reid and Rowan Kennedy."

"Are these the vehicles from the shootings?" Hotch asked, earning a nod from Thea.

"Did you set up the hotline?" Jordan inquired.

"Like you asked. We have the local stations putting the number out there. We're getting about a dozen calls an hour." Thea informed.

"I'll alert the media to stand by for our press conference. Excuse me." Jordan excused herself to contact a local media representative.

"The sheriff's department and the CHP are on tac alert. We've got choppers on round-the-clock freeway patrol. The victims' vehicles, with maps, CSPS and bullet points. Everything we got on the case is in this room." Thea told Rowan, Rossi and Spencer.

"Anything solid on the tip line?" Rossi asked.

"Usual nutjobs, crime buffs, bored senior citizens." Thea shrugged.

"You might have got everything squared away." Rowan sounded impressed.

"It's not me. It's the shooter. The OC has an endless supply of 3 things. Freeways, news coverage, and blond female luxury car owners."

"People are pretty scared?" Spencer wondered.

"I could ask for a submarine and get it."

* * *

"When the victimology is this specific, we know the victims represent a specific person to him." Spencer looked down at the case file, trying not to let his mistakes bother him. He was having trouble focusing. A lot of trouble.

"Who?" Thea asked.

"Given the fact that he's the same age and race as the victims, likely a current or former wife or girlfriend." Spencer internally cringed at the words.

"So why not just kill the actual person?" Thea asked, looking between Rowan and Spencer.

"She's just a scapegoat for his own personal failings. He knows if he kills her, he loses that scapegoat." Rowan looked up at Thea.

"So, he just goes around blowing away any women?"

"No, just women that remind him of his wife. When this type of killer is triggered, they need to release the resentment quickly. Subsequently, they tend to strike close to the focus of that resentment." Spencer squinted at the map.

"He almost certainly lives in this area. This is his comfort zone." Rowan pointed and circled an area on the map.

"Uh, what are these various markers everywhere?" Spencer asked, pointing out various small drawings.

"Uh, roadwork." Thea's response got the gears in Spencer's head turning.

"Come with me." Spencer grabbed the map and hurried out of the room and into the room where the rest of the team was, Rowan not far behind him. Thea followed.

"What's going on?" Rossi asked as the two doctors rushed into the room. Spencer laid down the map on the first flat surface he could find.

"Out of the 30 road work sites in the kill zone, only 2 were alternate merges, Both less than 3 miles from the crime scenes." Spencer said, looking at the members of his team.

"Alternate merges?" Emily questioned.

"Multiple lanes funneled down to one. One car per lane, alternating at the drivers' discretion." Spencer informed.

"These sites allow him to set up the confrontation." Morgan concluded.

"A guy who follows the rules may lash out once, but to do it again, he'd need similar provocation." Rossi started.

"So, he seeks out alternate merge sites, then he goes through them over and over again until he finds a woman that fits his victim type and who cuts him off." Hotch said.

"We have to shut down every alternate merge in the county immediately. And we need to talk to the crews that work these sites." Emily looked at the map.

"So, what does all this tell you?" Thea asked just as she caught up.

"Impersonal killers are like drug addicts. The first time gives them the ultimate high, and after that, no high is as good. Unfortunately, the addict doesn't know that. He will chase that high to the gates of insanity and death. By now, killing is all our unsub thinks about. He's set up the exact same situation again and again, hoping to get the same result. He begins to think he's doing it wrong. He becomes obsessed with improving his skills, honing his MO. And tailoring his weapon to his deadly purpose. He figures if he gets them all just right, if he can get his technique and his tools perfected, He'll feel that first high again. He's becoming a more lethal addict. And he'll never accept that the high is gone and it won't come back. He'll never stop. Never." Hotch could not have described the unsub better.

* * *

After Hotch, Rossi and Thea visited a construction site, it was time to deliver the profile.

"The hyper-masculine disguise, victim preference, and the emasculating trigger of the first attack all tell us this is an unsub suffering a masculine identity crisis." Hotch began delivering the profile to the Sheriff's department.

"A masculine identity crisis? That's why he's driving around blowing women away?" Thea sounded, for lack of a better word, pissed.

"No. Judy Hannity was just the trigger. We need to identify the precipitating trauma." Rowan said.

"Something happened in the unsub's life, something so traumatic, it turned a normal man into a serial killer." Morgan added.

"So, he's suffering from some kind of psychotic break?" Thea questioned.

"Which means the world he sees around him has changed, and so has his role in it." Rossi looked ar the various Sheriff deputies.

"And that of his family. His perception of his home life is the key to his pathology. At home this unsub feels less than a man, a failure as a father and as a husband. He feels his children don't need or respect him. And that he's unwanted and obsolete in their lives." Hotch told the group.

"As a husband he feels emasculated and humiliated by his wife. Now, these beliefs and perceptions, real or imagined, have destroyed this individual's masculine self-image." Morgan crossed his arms.

"This unsub is delusional. He's now dressing in this road warrior persona. It gives him feelings of power and purpose that he craves. It is now the single most important thing in his life. And he will die before giving it up." Emily said.

"His new fantasy persona can't coexist with the everyday reality of his home life." Rossi added.

"Which means sooner or later he's going to kill his entire family. Once this delusion takes over and he feels that it gets him closer to the original high he felt during the first shooting, it will consume him. His family will be in the way of who he thinks he truly is." Rowan concluded.

"So, what do we do?" Thea put her hands on her hips.

"Our strategy's three-fold. First we find every small-model blue suv owner in the estimated kill zone. Second, we compile a list in that zone, and we man all locations with our people. And third, we release our profile to the public. Somebody out there knows this man. They just don't realize it."

* * *

After another shooting, and a tip from the hotline, SPencer, Rowan and Emily set out to the workplace of Norman Hill.

"When I heard the description in the first press conference, I thought of norman. Then I just thought, it couldn't be, you know? He's so quiet." The supervisor or Mr. Hill lead us to his desk.

"What is it that Mr. Hill does for you?" Emily asked as the group reached the desk.

"He's in charge of the company's travel expenses. This is his desk."

"Does he have access to the company cars?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, the whole fleet." The supervisor said.

"What about the first press conference made you think of Norman?" Rowan asked, crossing her arms.

"The woman mentioned something about him suffering a tragedy."

"How long ago did his daughter die?" Rowan questioned.

"About 6 months ago. I really should have done more to help him. Thank you. Norman's personnel file." The supervisor handed Spencer the file.

"This address current?" Spencer asked.

"It should be."

"Why does he have 2 files?" Rowan's voice sounded concerned as she peeked at the file Spencer was holding.

"Uh, we cross-reference married couples." The supervisor admitted.

"I don't understand." Emily said.

"Norman's wife, Vanessa, works here, too."

"We need to speak to her." Rowan said, her voice stern.

"Uh, she's not here. She just got a promotion, so she took a couple of weeks off."

Rowan's phone rang.

"Excuse me, Sorry." Rowan said just before stepping away from the two agents and the supervisor.

"Hello?" Rowan answered.

"Kennedy, we have a high speed chase. 117th and Pacific." Hotch informed through the phone.

"We're closer to 117th, so we'll leave now."

"We're on our way. Be careful."

"You got it, boss man." Rowan closed the phone and rushed back over to Emily and Spencer.

"We've got a high speed. We're leaving." She informed quickly before they all jumped into action. "Thank you, sir." Rowan waved to the supervisor as they rushed out of the office building.

Rowan jumped behind the wheel of the FBI Chevy Suburban and hauled ass out of there. Whipping the car around every turn that Spencer directed her through.

"Shots fired! I repeat, Shots fired!" A male voice came over the radios.

"Shit." Rowan huffed under her breath. She usually didn't swear much, but she did in appropriate times.

"He's losing it." Emily said.

Emily called the rest of the team to get them to the house. The unsub was going in a giant circle, rounding to his home.

Rowan bobbed and weaved through cars, even making an impromptu, very choppy u-turn to catch up to the case.

"Spencer, get on the radio and let them know we caught up." Emily asked from the front seat.

"This is the FBI behavioral analysis unit. We caught up to the chase and are now monitoring. We ask if you're able to stop the vehicle, You allow us to take the lead in contacting the driver. We believe him to be a severely deranged suspect." Spencer spoke through the radio.

"Copy that." A male voice came through the phone.

After just a few more minutes of the chase, the unsub crashed into a police car and flipped to it's side.

"Holy-" Rowan began. She slammed the brakes and threw the car into park. She called Hotch to let him know and he gave her the orders to have everyone relax their weapons. She was also informed that the unsub's entire family had been found murdered in their home.

"Do not shoot! Do not shoot!" Rowan yelled. She raised her glock to the unsub as he attempted to staunter towards her. He was yelling incoherently.

"Stop! That's enough! Do not take one more step!" Rowan yelled over the unsub, weapon drawn and ready.

"My family is in there!" Norman screamed.

"Nobody is in that car! Your family is gone, Norman!" Rowan stepped toward him. "Look in the car! There is nobody in there. They were never in the car. They are gone."

"Oh, god, what did I do?" Norman dropped to his knees and sobbed. "Oh, what did I do to my family? My family! I'm sorry. I'm sorry! My family!"

Rowan had her gun fixed as Emily arrested the man.

"We're going to get you some help, Norman." Rowan called to the man as Emily took him to the closest police cruiser. She holstered her gun and stared, almost in shock at the scene that had just unfolded in front of her. Her breaths were heavy due to the adrenaline.

"Row." She heard Spencer's voice and felt the touch of his hand on her arm. "Row." He repeated. She snapped out of her trance like state and looked up at him.

"Let's go home." Spencer said.

* * *

The group of agents arrived on the 6th floor and headed into their office.

"You all right?" Morgan asked Jordan. He comforted her as she told him she wasn't sure if she could handle doing that job back in OC.

"I will be." Jordan responded.

"Hey, you guys ever notice how the trip home always seems to go so much faster?" Emily asked, her voice sounding exhausted.

"That's because the tailwinds are in our favor." Spencer nodded.

"No, I meant 'cause-" Emily gave up mid-sentence. "Anybody want to get something to eat?"

"There's someone in the BAU room, guys." Spencer spotted a blonde head of hair. The group followed him to the room.

"What are you doing here?" Spencer asked as the group entered the room.

"JJ!" Emilys voice went from tired to excited.

"Garcia said you guys were on your way back tonight. I thought you could use a surprise." JJ smiled down at her baby boy. Rowan's heart warmed.

"I thought I gave you strict orders to get this place out of your head for a while." Hotch crossed his arms, stifling a smile.

"My bad. I couldn't help myself. Here. I heated it up. Room temp. Right?" Garcia manuevered her way through the other agents and stood by JJ and the baby.

"I just realized, with all that we do and see in this room, it never smiles. I wanted at least one good memory to hold on to." JJ grinned.

"Excuse me, kid." Derek squeezed himself between Rowand and Spencer to get to JJ." Um, JJ, Can I?"

"Of course." JJ smiled and handed her baby to him.

"Ok, you gotta hold his head up. Careful,careful." Emily said, looking dearly at the small human in Morgan's arms.

"I got it, I got it. I got it." Morgan started rocking the baby.

'No, you don't got it. You're smothering him." Garcia joked.

"Look, what's he doing? What's he doing? He is smiling at Derek Morgan." Morgan smiled down at the boy.

"Gas." Garcia and Emily said at the same time.

"Give me that." Morgan pointed at the bottle. Garcia chuckled and handed it to him.

Rowan was fascinated by the tiny sounds the tiny human made. She was practically googly eyed. But she wasn't the only one.

* * *

As the excitement from JJ's visit calmed and most of the team had gone home, Spencer sat at his desk and began the report for the case. Morgan took the opportunity.

"You've got some explaining to do, kid." Morgan said as he pulled up a chair to Spencers desk. Spencer sighed. He knew what was being referred. But he wanted to avoid talking about it.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Spencer responded, not looking up from his papers. Morgan knew what that meant.

"What happened?"

"Again, I'm not sure-"

"Cut the crap, Kid. The both of you have been acting strange all day. Normally, you two are inseparable on the jet to a case and back from it. Today? Not a word between you guys."

Spencer sighed as he closed his eyes.

"I ruined it." Spencer said, quietly.

"Why do you say that?" Morgan asked, curious.

"Well, everything was going great. We had dinner at that italian place Rossi thinks is fake. We talked for what seemed like hours." Spencer paused and swallowed. Speaking the words make it hurt more.

"Once we were done eating, I walked her home. She once mentioned letters from people who worked closely with her parents. She cherishes them. She invited me into her apartment to show them to me."

"She pulled them off of a shelf in her living room and she let me read through a couple of her favorites. Once I was done a couple seconds later, she put them away and she hugged me. She just hugged me. I hugged back."

"As we pulled away from the hug, our faces were 2.7 inches away from each other. I panicked."

"Oh, god." Morgan sighed and let Spencer continue.

"I was so overwhelmed in that moment, I panicked. 'I can't do this. I'm so sorry.' Is what I said to her before bolting out of her apartment. She called me a couple times and messaged me once."

"What did she say?"

"She thought she had done something wrong. It pained me to think that I made her feel that way. But I was too afraid to contact her back."

"You're really falling for this girl, aren't you?" Morgan looked intensely at Spencer, reading his emotions and movements.

"It's incredibly terrifying. I've never done this before. I have never felt this way about anything, in my entire life. It's also irrational. I've known her for two weeks and she has this-this hold on me." Spencer's voice broke as he said the words to describe how he felt.

"Love isn't always rational. It doesn't have to be." Morgan put his hand on Spencer's shoulder. "It's okay to feel that way about someone. It's okay to be afraid, too. I'm sure she's just as scared."

"I don't know what to do." Spencer shrugged sadly as he hung his head.

"You're going to get your skinny ass over to her apartment and get your girl back." Morgan nodded, despite the playful words, he was very serious.

* * *

Rowan sat on her couch and tried not to relive the past 36 hours. She didn't know why, but seeing Norman Hill cry for his family, that he murdered, got under her skin.

Not only that, but she was almost certain that she had lost Spencer. She couldn't figure out what she had done wrong. They had been cold-shouldering each other for most of the day until they got the unsub. The pair would normally sit next to each other and talk away during the flight. Or Spencer would sound off statistics, making Rowan smile.

' _I can't do this. I'm so sorry.'_ Echoed in her head.

' _Oh, what did I do to my family?!'_ Echoed in her head.

Rowan was snapped out of her trance like state by a knocking at her door. She paused the current and random show on her television and stood to walk to the door.

She looked out her peephole and saw Spencer, he looked frantic.

"What the-" Rowan started. She moved away from the door slightly to open it.

"Spencer? What are-" She began but was interrupted. He stepped closer to the door frame but Rowan didn't move.

"You did absolutely nothing wrong. I hate myself for making you think that. I'm so sorry. I panicked. I believe that I am falling for you, very quickly and very deeply. It's terrifying because I don't know how to handle my emotions and-"

Rowan had heard enough. She closed the space between them and planted her lips onto his. Spencer was taken aback by this gesture, little did he know, she was too. She acted on pure impulse. Once her got over the stun, he blindly stepped into her apartment and shut the door behind him, kissing her back. Their first kiss started out small, but grew as they fed the fire.

He held her face in both of his hands and she rested hers on his wrists. As the kiss continued, Rowan's hands moved from his wrists to his jaw. Meanwhile, Spencer's moved to wrap around her waist, pulling her even closer to him.

The soft fabric of the loose-fitting t shirt she wore, tangled in his hands. Her lips, tasting of vanilla, enticed him. His heart rate increasing more and more by the second as he took her in.

The heat in her cheeks grew as she felt his arms around her. The faint scent of his cologne, mixed with the taste of coffee on his lips, pulled Rowan in so much more. She never wanted to leave this moment.

Unfortunately, breathing does need to happen.

She pulled away slowly, biting her lower lip as soon as it disconnected from Spencers. Spencer rested his forehead on her as they both calmed their breathing.

"That was-" Spencer began, not opening his eyes as he caught his breath.

"Incredible." Rowan finished. She looked up at him, stroking his jawline gently.

Spencer opened his eyes to see Rowan, looking as beautiful as ever, in his arms, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

* * *

OOHHHhhhhh CHIT. It got real again. I hope you guys are cool with the way this chapter played out. I liked the way it made the story flow better. Thanks for reading! Review/Fav/Follow if you want!


	9. Chapter 9

"You find anything?" Spencer sat down in front of a laptop, the laptop belonging to the possible unsub, Rowan sitting down on the desk where the laptop was placed.

"Give me a minute. I will find the grime." Penelope said from phone call.

"All right. You ready to start searching his computer?" Spencer asked.

"Born ready." Penelope responded.

"You seem to be in control." Rowan said, grinning slightly.

"I'm always in control, honey buns." Rowan smiled at the nickname.

"So far, William Harris appears to be quite intelligent. He's covering his tracks pretty well." Spencer noted.

"Yeah, just because you delete your history, it doesn't mean all your dirty cyber laundry isn't hanging out there for me to find on your hard drive. Rookie mistake." The pair heard Penelope typing away.

* * *

"Garcia's been digging through William's computer. She found an encrypted link to a web page." Spencer began. Rowan beside him, arms crossed.

"Where'd it take you?" Morgan asked, the detective and Rossi right beside him.

"It lead to an unsearchable, untraceable blog with tons of journal entries. It's like some sort of diary or journal." Rowan informed.

"You find anything incriminating?" Rossi asked. inquired.

"We were able to differentiate between the two authors. We found various idiosyncratic words, phrases, punctuation, and orthography within the blog entries consistent with each separate person." Spencer explained.

"Words like 'soda' and 'pop' were used, indicating that the writings were more than likely the thoughts of two different people. Once people establish a style of speaking and writing, it's difficult to derail from that. Especially if they grew up hearing such words or phrases. One guy uses dashes while the other uses ellipses." Rowan finished Spencers thought. Spencer turned to write something on the evidence board, Rowan's attention on him, but she could still hear the detective and Rossi

"Where'd you find these two?" The detective asked Rossi.

"He was left in a basket on the steps of the FBI. She on the other hand sort of just wandered in. We decided to keep them both." Rossi responded.

"One side of the discourse made a reference to the devil's strip." Spencer looked back at the detective.

"What the hell's that?' Detective asked.

"It's a small patch of grass that separates the sidewalk from the street. Now, that term is only used in central Ohio. William lived in Atlanta for 20 years, but he grew up in Columbus." Rowan answered.

"The other guy uses words like 'turnpike' and 'filling the gas tank,' Both specific regionalisms for Florida." Spencer concluded.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Morgan asked, just as the unsub walked past, earning a look from both of the doctors. "Right."

Spencer started going over the writings from the blogs as Rowan studied the murders.

"Tell me you found his partner. Reid." Morgan came up from behind the two of them, startling Rowan slightly, causing her to jump. "Sorry, darlin'." Morgan said, tapping Rowan's shoulder gently.

"It's all so cryptic. 'The end of the day came too soon." Spencer read aloud.

"Well, they clearly enjoyed being together. " Rowan said, semi-sarcastically.

"They wrote a cluster of others right after the first victim, Kim Groves, was killed." Spencer informed.

"We need to figure out how they met. There's gotta be something in all this about their courtship." Morgan sat beside Rowan and went through the file.

"It all seemed so hopeless, but I finally learned to rise above it." It sounds like William confessed he was feeling incomplete." SPencer observed.

"He was. He didn't start killing until he met his soulmate."

"Faith should never be broken." The longer they got away with it, the stronger their relationship." Rowan said, now standing by Spencer, reading the text closely.

"Sounds like these two aren't just obsessed with rape and murder. They're addicted to one another." Morgan sighed, eyebrows furrowed.

"We could have saved her." Detective said, walking in with the rest of the agents

"There were no signs of his having a partner until now."Emily said as the circle assembled.

"I guess that's why he's so cocky." Detective crossed his arms, feeling defeated.

"Well, his arrogance is typical of a dominant personality. He's found a submissive who's willing to kill for him." Hotch informed.

"The partner is a biter. We found marks on Missy Dewald." Emily looked between the two doctors.

"They never did that before." Morgan raised his brows.

"Well, with William out of the picture, he's changed his behavior. Maybe the partner went back to something that's comfortable, something he's done before." Rossi shrugged.

"I've got Garcia checking dental records against other cases."

Hotch and Emily went to check out a witness from a case similar to the MO of the unsub who murdered Missy DeWald.

* * *

Rowan and Spencer stuck around to look further into the writings found on the blog.

"One thing I have noticed is that there doesn't seem to be any kind of sexual flirtation or anything along those lines between William and his partner." Rowan squinted at the papers on the evidence board.

"It appears that they are getting the sexual excitement from kidnapping these girls, and bonding over the adrenaline and ritual." Spencer agreed, as he studied the papers closely.

"The biting could be some sort of obsessive habit that the partner strayed away from because of William. Or the partner could be trying to throw us off with another set of MO." Rowan huffed, she couldn't quite pinpoint the biting. "This is so damn frustrating. The partner is escalating while William is in custody. He could take another victim and strike again if he doesn't get what he wants."

"Hey," Spencer began. He quickly glanced around him, making sure nobody was watching before grabbing Rowan's hand. He closed the side-by-side distance between them. "If anyone is going to figure this out, it's our team. We're just missing a couple of details."

Rowan shied away from his touch and pulled her hand from his. She couldn't justify why, but she hated that she did. Seeing the almost pained look in his eyes after she retracted was too much.

"Guys," Hotch said from behind the two doctors, making the both of them jump. Spencer released Rowan's hand, hoping the team didn't see. They both didn't want to act or seem unprofessional.

"How was the witness interview?" Rowan inquired.

"Connie mayers described an anger-excitation rapist just like William." Emily said, her voice sounded disappointed.

"So we're lookin' at 2 dominant personalities?" Morgan asked.

"Makes sense. They have a similar discourse. They're equally well-written." Spencer shrugged.

"And that's a big deal?" Detective asked.

"It's rare in criminal partnerships." Rowan answered.

"If their personalities are the same, their lives probably mirror one another's as well." Emily added.

"Harris goes to church, on the board of the p.t.a., Coaches his daughter's soccer team, rarely drinks." Detective informed.

"Sounds like a saint." Jordan relented.

"With a dark side. That's what he connected to in the partner. Prentiss and I will go talk to the family, see if they know who it might be." Hotch determined just before him and Emily walked away.

"Two alpha males working together is going to be difficult to crack." Morgan looked briefly at the evidence board.

"The partner is definitely following the investigation." Jordan though aloud.

"Let's do the talking for them. We've got something that could be used as a tool." Rossi said, holding out one of the blog writings.

"Why would he read it? He knows William won't be writing." Detective pointed out.

"These men are addicted to each other. Right now, he needs a fix, and the words they've shared are all he has to cling to." Morgan told.

"His partner wrote 'faith should never be broken.' A betrayal could devastate him." Spencer said, definitely on to something.

"All we have to say is that William's cooperating and then hope he takes the bait."

While Hotch and Emily talked to the families, Rowan, Spencer and Morgan typed out a letter to the unsubs partner.

"What have we got so far?" Rowan asked, looking through the files. She sat right next to Spencer as he typed, except she sat on the table again. Morgan took notice to how both of them were acting.

"Uh, 'We were surprised that you injected yourself into the investigation. You risked a lot in order to help William. And killing Missy tells us how close you really are. It must be devastating to learn that William is here with us." Spencer finished speaking aloud.

"He's not gonna like that. Sounds like William's cooperating with us." Rowan said, looking onto the screen.

"Well, that's exactly what we want him to believe, so he'll doubt their alliance." Morgan started plainly. "Most entries followed the first murder."

"Yeah, William wrote most of them. Uh,"I wasn't expecting that type of gift. I wish time didn't take away all the pleasures of the day." Rowan cringed at Spencers words. In theory, the words would be romantic and heartfelt in nature if they weren't referring to rape and murder.

After figuring out that the unsub met William at a neighborhood party, it was a short walk to figure out that they were communicating via song, when they were right next door.

Steven, the partner/lover of William, abducted William's daughter, Andrea, after he caught her following him. The murderous pair knew that it wasn't going to end well, but they wanted to see each other again before going off to their own prisons.

William was wired when he went to their meeting place, Morgan and Emily busted in after making sure Steven was unarmed and Andrea was alive.

* * *

Rowan poured herself some hot water, to make some hot chocolate as the jet sped through the air. Unbeknownst to her, a young man struggled to find words he needed to say.

Spencer got up from his seat on the jet and walked over to the small counter Rowan stood in front of. She saw movement out of her peripheral vision and smiled to see Spencer walking towards her.

"Hey." She smiled widely at him and she stirred the chocolate powder into the water.

"Can we talk?" Spencer asked, word vomiting. The question took Rowan by surprise.

"Uh, yeah s-sure. What's going on?" She set down her mug as the tightness in her chest rose. She back to him, he seemed flustered.

"It's about last night." Spencer swallowed and evaded her eyes for a moment. "We barely even said goodnight." His voice unsteady and low.

"I know." Rowan looked down to her coffee cup. "Please don't be angry with me, but this isn't the place. We're on a jet 10 feet from our co-workers. Just come over tonight and we can talk about everything. Okay?"

"I'm not angry, just-" Spencer took a deep breath and exhaled. "Okay. I'll come over after work." Spencer gave her a weak smile and turned to sit back in his seat.

* * *

Rowan's anxiety grew. Leaving things left unsaid wasn't particularly healthy, even for short amounts of time. It worried her.

Rowan paced around her apartment, waiting for Spencer to arrive. She had changed from her work clothes to comfy, fleece lined leggings and a stanford t-shirt.

She kept going over scenarios in her heading.

One where Spencer walked away from her.

One where she walked away from Spencer.

One where she completely broke down in tears.

One where everything was perfect, until he found out about that one, excruciating detail from her past and decided he could not love her.

She wanted nothing to do with any of those situations.

After about 5 minutes alone with her thoughts, she was ready to vomit. Finally, a knock came to her door. She sighed of relief and stepped towards the door. She looked through the peep hole to see that a drenched Spencer was standing with his hands in his pockets. She unlocked and opened the door.

"Spencer," She stifled a laugh as he chuckled along, stepping through the frame and into her entry way.

"I thought it would be a good idea to walk but I failed to bring an umbrella from the office." He chuckled.

"Do you want some dry clothes?" She said, observing the water dripping from his jacket, pants and hair.

"You're 5'5 and I'm 6'1. Somehow I don't see that working out." He chuckled, nearly forgetting why he was there as soon as he heard her laugh.

"My little brother is a bit taller than I am. I have some of his old team clothes that I stole because they were comfortable." Rowan chuckled.

"Yeah, That sounds nice."

"Oh, you can hang your coat on the hool." She said as she pointed just above his head. He shook off the coat and hung it up, before noticing she disappeared into the hallway by the entry way. He followed her through an open door.

Once he realized where he was, he froze. In the middle of the room, coming from the far wall, was a queen size bed, draped in a dark grey, purple and white bedspread. Next to the bed was a small black nightstand with two drawers. A silver alarm clock, a pair of glasses and a small pill bottle decorated the nightstand.

Spencer noticed that it wasn't an over the counter pill bottle, but it was a yellow bottle with a white cap and sticker. He didn't want to be nosey, so he didn't look further for any more details on the bottle.

He continued to look around the room, a couple of open boxes were on the other side of the nightstand and a standing lamp in the corner of the room, as well as a small desk lamp on the nightstand.

Rowan stood at a dresser that was almost as tall as she was, going through the second to the top drawer. She pulled out a shirt and a pair of comfortable looking sweatpants, that seemed to be of Spencer's size and threw them over her shoulder. She turned to see him, awkwardly standing there.

"Here you go." She handed the clothes to him after she closed the drawer she was looking in. "You can change in here, or in the bathroom. Its the door on the left when heading back to the living room."

Spencer nodded as he turned around, not wanting to change in her room, he felt odd about it for some reason.

He went into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His wet hair was a mess, but he knew if he touched it, he would make it worse.

He started taking off the wet clothes and hung them over the shower rod. He stepped back to look at her shower curtain.

It was a dark colored curtain, with the skyline of a city, buildings with lights on and everything. What really caught his eye was the stars in the sky over the buildings. It looked like they were hanging from strings. Spencer smiled. He felt as if he was getting to know her better but observing small things in her apartment.

He stepped back over to his original spot in front of the mirror and looked at the top half of his torso before putting on the shirt and pants that were provided for him. He had always thought that he was too skinny. That he didn't have enough muscle tone. Working for the FBI definitely helped, but he still critiqued his body.

He exited the bathroom to see that right across the hall, was another bedroom behind a closed door. He noted that as odd, as she didn't seem to have any roommates and or any children. He shrugged it off and moved back to the living room to find Rowan pouring herself a glass of chocolate milk. He smiled to himself.

"Why do you have two bedrooms?" Spencer blurted out, not even meaning to. Rowan shrugged.

"Its my office. I have a desk and computer in there. Along with a pull out couch in case my brother wants to visit ever. Would you like any?" Rowan offered.

"I'm okay for now, but thank you." Spencer said, looking around, avoiding her eyes.

"I'm sorry I've been acting a bit off today. When you took my hand this morning, I panicked." Rowan confessed, setting down her chocolate milk and stepping away from the counter, closer to Spencer. "You said last night that you were falling for me and it was terrifying. I feel the exact same, Spencer. I'm afraid for so many reasons, but none of them have anything to do with you." She confessed.

"I know why I'm afraid. Why are you?" Spencer questioned, his voice curious.

"I've never done this before. I've never felt so comfortable with someone so quickly. You make me nervous and also calm at the same time. It's all so confusing and I don't handle my emotions very well either, to be completely honest." Rowan said, looking into his eyes from 3 feet away. She chuckled nervously.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've never done this either. What ever this may be." Spencer gestured between the two of them. "All I know is that whenever I'm near you, the room I'm in gets brighter." Spencer took a couple of steps towards her. He took her smaller hand in his.

As he stepped closer, Rowan's heart rate increased. The feeling of his warm skin on her hand was familiar and felt right to her.

"What are we going to do?" Rowan asked, looking into his eyes, as they were much closer now.

"Right now or in general?" Spencer responded with a question.

"Both."

"Well, normally when two people have feelings for each other they start dating, right?" SPencer asked, his question serious. Rowan chuckled slightly and nodded.

"Typically." She joked.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend then?" Spencer inquired. Hearing the word 'girlfriend' coming from his own two lips felt strange. But he liked it. Rowan bit her lip.

"Of course I would." Her smile took his breath away before she closed the space between them and gently placed her lips on his.

This kiss was different than their first. This kiss was slow and gentle. His hands cupped her jaw as hers rested on his abdomen.

Each moment between them bringing the kiss deeper. Their first kiss was heated and fueled by fire. This kiss was a slow, tender burn.

Spencer pulled away slowly, keeping his eyes closed and taking in the vanilla taste of her lips and breath.

"I'd hate to ruin this beautiful moment but what to we tell the team?" Rowan said, Spencers face still _very_ close to hers. She chuckled at the thought of their team.

"I wonder what nicknames they'll give us as a couple." Spencer chuckled along.

"I'm sure they'll come up with some good ones." Rowan enjoyed every second of her embrace with Spencer.

* * *

It is now 7 am where I am and I don't see myself going to sleep anytime soon unfortunately. Thank you for reading. Feel free to review/fav/follow if you'd like!


	10. Chapter 10

"We got the uplinks of the crime scene photos. This is Geoff and Nancy Hale. Both their throats were cut." Jordan moved to sit in the center of the group. Rowan and Spencer moved from their own seats, away from the crowd, to stand and see the photos.

"Any evidence of abuse?" Hotch asked.

"Nothing." Jordan informed.

"Slitting someone's throat is quick and efficient." Spencer said as he took a seat by Morgan, Rowan decided to stand after Spencer quietly offered the seat.

"That's because the real target was down the hall." Emily responded, earning a look from Jordan.

"She has a name. She's not 'the target.' Her name is Kate. She's 10 years old." Jordan's voice was low. Emily looked around in slight confusion.

"Alright." Emily nodded.

"Is there an Amber alert in effect?" Rowan asked, cutting the tension.

"Since 7 this morning." Jordan nodded, snapping out of whatever the hell just happened.

"With the unsub's head start he could be anywhere within a 400-mile radius. Make sure that they're casting a wide enough net." Hotch told. Jordan acknowledged quietly.

"Who discovered the bodies?" Morgan asked.

"Jim Scheuren, Cate's biological father. He was supposed to take her for the weekend. The police don't consider him a suspect." Jordan relayed to the group.

"We'll want to talk to him anyway. We're also going to need a list of registered sex offenders in a 20-mile radius." Hotch said as he looked through the case file.

"What's the makeup of the Hales' neighborhood?" Spencer asked.

"Mostly white and middle class."

"We'll need aerial views of the neighborhood. If Madison county doesn't have them, talk to Garcia." Morgan requested,

"Dave, you, Kennedy and Morgan go to the crime scene. The rest of us will get up to speed at the precinct."

* * *

Spencer messaged Rowan while her, Morgan and Rossi pulled up to the crime scene.

 _ **Spencer: Don't let Morgan pick on you. I'll tell him once we're done with the case. Stay safe out there.**_

Rowan smiled at the screen of her phone. She opened the LG Voyager and began to type a response.

 _ **Rowan: I'll try, no guarantees. He's a stubborn man. I'll be safe. XX**_

Rowans attention was grabbed by the stopping of the car. She exited the vehicle, along with Rossi and Morgan.

"Bo whitaker." An officer said, stepping underneath the 'DO NOT CROSS' yellow crime scene tape.

"David Rossi." Rossi introduced himself first, as Rowan stood beside Morgan.

"I recognize you from the tv." Bo said with a southern drawl.

"Derek Morgan." Morgan shook his hand.

"Dr. Rowan Kennedy." She smiled quickly at the man.

"Bo whitaker. Pleased to meet all of you. Point of entry is around back." Bo started leading the agents up towards the house. "Now, the neighbors didn't see or hear anything. And the dogs lost the scent almost immediately."

"Not hard to target a family out here. Surrounding woods, seemingly quiet neighborhood." Rowan observed.

"Even in broad daylight. Walk 5 feet off the track, man could get lost for days." Bo agreed.

"So, he had plenty of privacy to watch what he was really after. I prefer cities. You can see them coming." Rossi said as the group reached the point of entry.

"Nothing very sophisticated. Knocked off the pane to unlock the door." Rowan looked at the ground as Morgan crouched down to take a closer look.

She noticed that there was blue, green and red shattered glass as well as the clear shattered glass. She noted that as an oddity in her head.

"Do you think the girl's dead?" Bo asked, crossing his arms.

"Depends on what he took her for." Morgan said, truthfully.

Bo took them inside and Derek wandered to Kate's room. Rowan followed Rossi and Bo to the parents bedroom. The door was wide open. As the three entered the room, Rowan saw blood spatter all the way up to the ceiling. She sighed and paused for a moment.

"Are you alright?" Rossi asked, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," She began, taking a deep breath. "It's just awful." She said, looking up at the blood.

"Extremely." Rossi agreed. "Find anything in Cate's room?" He said to Derek, who had entered the room just moments before.

"That's what's weird. There's no sign of struggle. It didn't even look like she tried to get out of bed in a hurry." Morgan looked at the blood stained sheets.

"Her parents' throats were cut. If there was the element of surprise, they might not have had time to scream. I'm the unsub. I kill geoff Hale first." Rossi begins.

"He presents the biggest threat." Rowan added.

"But how do I do that without waking Nancy, who's sleeping right next to him?" Rossi questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

"No ligature marks. Neither one was tied down." Morgan looked lost in thought.

"And no defensive wounds, either." Rowan remembered from the ME report. "Geoff Hale's cause of death was a single deep, smooth cut that severed the carotid artery. But his wife Nancy Hale's cause of death was caused by a series of jagged, shallow wounds that punctured the carotid artery."

"There's more than one unsub." Morgan concluded.

"You're sure?" Bo asked, arms crossed.

"He was either able to restrain nancy while he killed Geoff, or she woke up, which means she would have screamed. At which point, Cate would have woken up." Morgan informed.

"Either way, we're looking at multiple unsubs." Rossi agreed.

"So things are worse than we thought." Bo looked disappointed.

"Yes and no." Rossi responded.

"Kate's chances of survival just got better. Having two unsubs changes the dynamic of the murder and abduction." Rowan said, studying the blood on the pillows.

"How do you figure?" Bo questioned.

"They spent more time with her."

Morgan's phone rang and he stepped out of the room.

"With two unsubs, this could mean a long list of things." Rossi sighed.

"What are some of the possibilities?" Bo asked.

"Well, typically in a child abduction, there are 3 main demographics for suspects. Family kidnappings make up about 49 percent. 27 percent is dictated by acquaintances and 24 percent by strangers." Rowan began, shrugging. "I'd say that because most family kidnappings are done by parents and the biological father has a solid alibi, and strangers can't really find their way around here if they don't know the family or the area, it's most likely going to be an acquaintance or someone who knows of Kate and her family. But that's just a guess."

"What is your PhD in?" Bo asked, semi-awestruck by Rowan's knowledge.

"Psychology. My masters is in Sociology and my bachelors is in criminal justice." Rowan smiled slightly.

"We have another one just like her back at your station." Rossi joked.

Morgan stepped back into the room.

"Kate has epilepsy. And whoever took her didn't know to take the medication she takes for it." Morgan held up a bottle of pills.

"So that rules out family." Rossi started.

* * *

Hotch directed Rowan, Rossi and Morgan to an RV park after Kate was found, thankfully.

"Most people pay in cash. We don't have much in the way of records." The park owner told the group of agents.

"Ma'am, this was a family. Mother, father, small boy. They would have kept to themselves and then left abruptly." Morgan told her, trying to get more information.

"You just described most of my business."

"The son wouldn't have mingled with other children. He would have been tightly guarded by his parents." Rowan said, also trying.

"Sorry. I wish I could help." The park owner continued.

"The family we're talking about is eastern european. They may have spoken some foreign words to each other." Rossi started, causing the woman to pause.

"They in some kind of trouble?"

"You remember them. Don't you?" Rowan asked.  
"Well, you can imagine I don't get a lot of people speaking foreign around here. I can't tell you much.  
The husband was real business like. Wife was nice, pretty. Son was quiet."

"You didn't take down a license or a credit card?" Rossi wondered aloud.

"Left in the middle of the night and never came back. And I wouldn't have thought twice about it if I didn't have to clean up the campsite from all the glass."

Rowan stopped to think about the glass the unsubs left in front of the point of entry.

"Glass?" Rowan asked.

"All over the ground. Almost like they did it on purpose."

"Can you show us where they parked?"

After a little bit of searching, Rossi kicked over a rock and found some pieces of glass, the same ones that were found on the crime scene.

* * *

"Is it a match?" Sheriff asked.

Rowan stood between Morgan and Spencer, arms crossed, her body weight was shifted onto one leg.

"Which means the rv park owner was right. They spread it on purpose." Derek said in response.

"So everything they do is part of some ritual." Rowan said.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Sheriff asked as he crossed his arms.

"A family that ritualizes killing together? Definitely not." Morgan responded.

"You know, if the family speaks romanian, the spreading of the glass makes sense.  
It's an eastern european superstition for good luck." Spencer informed.

"So they're Romanian. We already knew that." Sheriff furrowed his brows.

"Not just romanian. We're talking about people that are highly superstitious and obsessed with ritual." SPencer continued.

"Romany." Rossi said.

"Romany?" Sheriff asked.

"Gypsies." Rossi responded.

"More accurately, someone who has perverted romany culture." Spencer concluded.

"Call Garcia. They're tight-knit and nomadic like our unsubs, but not usually prone to violence." Rossi informed as Morgan dialed his phone.

"Hiya, baby." Garcia said from the other end of the phone call.

"Hey, baby girl, we need to talk." Derek said into the phone.

"Pg or nc-17?" Garcia said, cleverly.

"You're on speakerphone." Morgan hummed.

"I charge extra for groups." She said back to him, earning a chuckle from Derek. Rowan noticed the Sheriffs surprised face.

It's not every day you hear two FBI agents call each other 'baby' and almost talk dirty to one another. Well, not every day if you're not apart of the BAU.

"We need you to run through crimes similar to the Hale murders in the last 2 years." Rossi requested.

"Oh, I already did that. Zip."

"Go back even further, Garcia." Spencer began. "Cross-reference against any small towns that have had reports of petty theft associated with waves of romany populations entering the area."

"Romany?"

"Gypsies." Rowan answered.

"As in 'gypsies, tramps, and thieves'?" Garcia sounded excited.

"Exactly."

"Oh, bless you all for turning my life into a cher song. You'll have it nearly immediately."

"You're the best." Derek said to Garcia lovingly.

"Thanks, Garcia!" Rowan said into the phone.

"You're welcome, honey buns." Garcia disconnected the call.

"Was she talking to me?" Derek asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"No, I'm honey buns." Rowan said, she never thought she'd put such a sentence together. She earned a chuckle from Derek and Spencer.

"You need to get your men together right now." Rossi looked intensely at the Sheriff.

"Why is that?"

"Cause whatever ritual these people are trying to play out, e know Cate Hale didn't fit their needs." Spencer started.

"Which means they'll have to try again."

"Rowan, come with Dave and I to deliver the profile. You need some experience with that." Hotch asked, Rowan nodded than followed the two older gentlemen to the crowd of officers waiting for them.

"The unsubs we're looking for are a family. A father, a mother, and a son, approximately 10 years old. We believe they're of romanian descent." Hotch said as he passed out case files to the police department.

"The family travels in an rv, but they also have another vehicle that they use to go back and forth between campsites and cities. We need you to call every rv park in the area. Alert the owners to be on the lookout for a family that fits this description, as well as a campsite that might have broken glass scattered around." Rossi added.

"The breaking of the glass and the discarding of Kate Hale because of her epilepsy leads us to believe that these are highly superstitious people and that they are playing out a very specific ritual." Hotch continued.

"The focus of this ritual is the young girls." Rowan said.

"Do we know why?" An officer asked.

"No. But we do know from the location of Cate Hale's house that they don't come across these girls by accident. They study. They hunt." Rowan crossed her arms.

"Cate's father said that she liked to go to the movies at their local multiplex. That's a good place to start." Hotch informed the group.

"Also look at the parks, malls. Concentrate on those that are an easy drive from the rv parks you locate."

"This family is out there and they're looking for their next victim." Hotch said.

Derek came out of the conference room.

"You guys need to see this right now." Derek's voice very serious.

"Excuse us." Hotch said to the crowd, excusing himself, Rossi and Rowan.

"What's going on?" Hotch asked as the three agents entered the room.

"Garcia, you still there?" Derek asked.

"Present." Garcia said before going into what she found. "Ok, I went ahead and went further back looking for similar cases and I made the search national. There's 30 of them. They go as far back as 1909. Rapid city, South Dakota, Taos, New Mexico, Gary, Indiana. My map is lit up like a christmas tree.

"All these girls were abducted and had their parents killed?" Hotch said, going through the papers and papers of case file sheets.

"The time between the kills was long enough and the regions of the country so spread out that it never showed up as serial." Spencer said, handing some of the papers to Rowan. She began looking over them.

"What the hell is this?" Rowan asked.

"I don't know, but it looks like it's been going on for generations." Hotch said, sounding worried. "Rowan, you stay here with me and Prentiss to look through these cases. The rest of the team go to the newest crime scene."

* * *

Rowan's phone rang as she sat next to Emily and across from Hotch. She looked at the caller ID.

"Hey, Penelope. What's up?" Rowan asked, putting the cell phone on speaker.

"I hope the three of you are sitting down because boy do I have some wacky stuff." Garcia said through the phone.

"What is it, Garcia?" Hotch asked, looking up from his papers.

"I got a hit from the hair found on the blanket that Kate Hale was wrapped in." Garcia started. "It's from a cold case in 1971. You all should have it. Kathy Gray was abducted after her parents were murdered. She was never found."

"Thanks, Garcia." Rowan said, the gears in her head turning.

"Not a problem, Honey buns. I'll call you guys back if there is anything else." Garcia disconnected the call.

"Guys, I think I know what's happening." Rowan said, frantically shuffling through the case files.

"What is it?" Hotch asked. Emily looked over to her.

"All of the previous victims have been between the ages of 9 to 12. Typically girls start puberty between ages 10 to 14." Rowan word vomited. "And all of their parents were murdered. What if the unsubs are kidnapping these girls to vet them to become wives? And than killing the parents as a countermeasure. Parents are what drive investigations after child abductions. If they get rid of the parents, they get rid of almost half of the motivation to continue investigating."

"Oh my-" Emily said, looking down at the case files.

"You're onto something, Rowan." Hotch said, as he abruptly stood to call one of the other team members.

* * *

Once all of the team was back at the precinct, a conference call with Garcia began.

"A working theory from 1971 was that a transient killed the family and abducted Kathy gray. Then all the leads went cold." Garcia typed away through VICAP.

"How do you watch your family get murdered and then make a life with the people who did it?" Jordan questioned. She seemed to be having a rough time during the cases.

"It's Stockholm Syndrome. You adapt or die." Rossi answered.

"And now she's training her son to be a murderer." Rowan said, her voice low.

"At a certain point, once traditions are handed down generation after generation, there is no right or wrong. You simply accept the way the world works." Hotch huffed.

"The romany are a closed society. The unsub simply twisted and distorted traditions to become entirely insular." Spencer said, keeping an eye on Rowan.

"Abducting the children keeps the bloodline pure, and killing the parents ensures that people eventually stop looking for them." Rowan said, her voice became lower.

"We got a report of an rv on fire about 20 miles from here." Sheriff said as he opened the door.

"Dave, you, Reid, Rowan and Morgan go check it out."

* * *

"It was started less than an hour ago, so they can't be far." Sheriff said, as he lead the agents to the scene.

"It looks like they left almost everything." Derek said as he looked around at the charred remains.

"The got the girl they wanted. They're starting over." Rossi said.

"Look at the clothes. Most of them still have the store sensors on them." Morgan crouched down and looked through them.

"So how'd they get them past security scanners?"

"Tinfoil. Kate Hale remembers being locked in a closet surrounded by clothing and tinfoil." Spencer told Sheriff.

"Shoplifters use tinfoil to line their bags and negate security alarms." Rowan looked through the bags as well.

"Makes sense. A lot of romany make their living as petty thieves." Rossi added.

"It also explains the bells she heard. Kate says she remembers hearing the sound of bells, Followed directly by the father talking to the son. I think that's probably what the mannequin's for. School of the 7 bells." Spencer picked up a mannequin hand from the char.

"You dress a mannequin, you line a suit with 7 bells. If you can pick his pocket without a bell ringing, you're ready to work a crowd." Derek said, standing.

"These unsubs are guided entirely by ritual. They abducted Lynn Robillard, the newest victim, and killed her family in an area that they knew was surrounded by police and the FBI. They had to. They can't deviate." Spencer looked around at the RV.

"We also know that they're starting over. Which means they're gonna need some money." Derek said.

"Where's the closest shopping mall?" Rowan asked.

"About 15 miles from here." Sheriff told her. Derek pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, Hotch, we know where they're going." Derek told Hotch over the phone.

* * *

They caught the female unsub and Hotch was playing 'bad cop' and Emily took on the role of 'good cop'

Rowan watched with Jordan as the woman was interrogated.

"How's it going so far?" Spencer, Rossi and Morgan stepped into the room. Spencer walking to Rowan on the far side of the window in the room.

"They're trying to crack her by reminding her of the girl she used to be." Jordan said.

Rowan pinched the bridge of her nose, as she did when she was frustrated. Spencer placed a hand on the small of her back and rubbed gently, as if to comfort.

"I hope this good cop/ bad cop routine works." Spencer sighed.

"If her family gets away, we've lost that little girl forever." Rossi said as he watched Emily and Hotch interrogate.

They dug into Kathy's thoughts until a name, Morris Collins, made her call out infrustration.

"There it is." Derek is. "Reid, Kennedy, let's go."

Derek drove to the location given by Kathy. Spencer, Rowan and Derek, along with some police officers, cornered the male unsub.

"Fbi! Hands in the air! Hands in the air! Get on your knees! Down on the ground! Now!" Derek yelled at the unsub, all three agents, and all of the officers had guns aimed and ready. Derek had the man on the ground and cuffed him. "You know, we got a long list of girls to go through with you."

"In history, warriors invaded towns, killed the men, women, and boys, But kept the girls for themselves. You exist because your ancestors did what was needed for you to survive." The unsub said, staring at the agents.

"Get him out of here." Derek handed him off to an officer.

"You'll never find my boy!" The unsub screamed.

"We already have." Rowan called out, obviously angering the unsub, causing him to yell and squirm in the officer's grip.

"Come on, come on." The officer told the unsub.

After finding the boy and the abducted girl, a translator was needed.

"Don't tell them about your brothers." Kathy said to her son. When asked about his brothers, the boy refused to answer.

* * *

Once back at the office, the rest of the team were starting their reports when Rowan decided it was due time for a cup of hot chocolate.

As she poured the hot water from the hot water dispenser, she felt gentle hands on her shoulder, sliding down her arms. She turned to meet Spencers warm gaze and the smile that she loved.

"Hi." Spencer said, looking down at his newfound girlfriend.

"You know the whole team can probably see us, right?" Rowan chuckled as he moved a step closer to her.

"I know they can." Spencer slid his hands to hold hers. "I don't really mind."

Meanwhile, from her desk, Emily was beginning her report for the case. She sighed and looked up for a moment to distract herself. Something very intriguing caught her eye.

Spencer and Rowan were _very_ close together as she observed their conversation. Emily looked the pair up and down and they were holding as their conversation continued.

"Well, I'll be damned." Emily whispered to herself. "Morgan!" She whisper-yelled as he left Hotch's office.

"What's goin' on princess?" Derek diverted his original route back to his office over to Emily's desk.

"Tell me I'm not seeing things." Emily nodded towards the break area, where Spencer and Rowan were. Derek followed her line of sight and took in what she was seeing.

Only, they has shifted from holding hands to him using his left hand to cup her cheek as she spoke up to him.

"Nuh uh." Derek chuckled in disbelief. "Pretty boy got the girl."

Just as Derek spoke, Spencer pulled Rowan into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

"Took them long enough." Emily huffed as she looked back at her paper, earning a laugh from Derek.

* * *

So I haven't updated in a couple days but I wanted to sort of establish a publishing schedule. I want you all to be aware of that schedule as well. I've decided I will update on Mondays and Thursdays my time (Eastern Standard Time). I've already gotten a head start on the next few chapters and I honestly can't wait for you guys to read what I've got planned for this series. Also, I'm going to go back through the previous chapters and edit some of the errors once I'm satisfied with the how the story is progressing. Thanks for reading/reviewing/favoring/following! I appreciate it all! XxXx


	11. Chapter 11

"Current influences should turn this day into one with plenty of potential, but avoid trap of trying too hard. Know your strengths. Rely on them. confidence, real or pretend, is your magic ingredient." Garcia read from the newspaper. Rowan chuckled. From her seat across from the blonde, tech genius.

"Confidence. Yes, I like that." Kevin Lynch, Garcia's boyfriend and technical analyst, said.

"Come on, guys, you don't think there's actually anything to that stuff, do you?" Derek said, sitting on the table that Rowan and Penelope were placed at.

"You'd be surprised." Penelope responded, confidently.

"It's gibberish." Emily said as she stirred her coffee.

"Thank you." Derek sipped his coffee.

"Oh, you are just jealous because you don't have the magic ingredient." Penelope determined.

"I have the magic ingredient. It's called splenda." Emily fired back, jokingly.

"All right, skeptic, what's your sign?" Kevin asked.

"Uh oh." Rowan said, looking back at Emily.

"No." Emily said simply.

"No. Is that in April?" Penelope's sarcasm made Rowan laugh. "Reid, we need a DOB on Prentiss."

"Ah, 7:12 AM, October 12, 19-" Spencer started but was cut off by Emily.

"Hey!" Emily said, stopping him from saying the year she was born.

"Libra. I should have known." Penelope looked on the newspaper for Libra's horoscope. "A romantic opportunity may experience a slight hitch thanks to the pesky lunar influence which could have you dipping into a rather chilly mood. If being demonstrative and warm is difficult, then neutralize this temporary cold front with a simple but affectionate gesture." Penelope sent a cheeky grin to the dark haired agent.

"I have a simple gesture." Emily simply flipped the bird, earning a laugh from the group.

"What about you, honey buns?" Penelope raised an eyebrow at the young doctor.

"I refuse." Rowan chuckled. "Everybody hates my sign."

"Okay, searching for Gemini." Penelope smirked as Rowan rolled her eyes. "Ah! Here we go. 'Your curiosity is well known, dear Gemini. This is the perfect time to get serious both in and out of privacy of the bed-"

"Okay, we're done here." Rowan snatched the newspaper and held it away from Penelope, Rowan's cheeks red. She wasn't the only one. Spencer had a noticeable blush going on as well.

"You guys ready to gather?" JJ said, moving into the room, a new haircut. Her blonde hair was now chopped to her collarbones.

"Well, look at you, miss thing. First day back and you're all business." Derek said, saluting JJ.

"Well, it's either dive right in or confront my separation anxiety." JJ smiled nervously.

"It's tough being away from him, huh?" Rowan asked. JJ nodded in response.

"Oh, hey, that's new, isn't it?" Emily asked, looking down at JJ's right hand as Garcia looked at it closely. A gorgeous orangey-gold stone was surrounded by small diamonds on a silver band.

"Yeah, citrine. It's henry's birthstone. Will and I both got one." JJ smiled down at the ring.

"Oh, that's sweet." Penelope smiled up at the petite blonde woman.

"You done with this?" JJ asked Rowan, pointing at the newspaper.

"All yours." Rowan flashed a cheeky grin at Garcia as she handed the newspaper to JJ. Penelope stuck her tongue out at Rowan and smiled.

The team gathered in the round table room and waited for Hotch to arrive to begin the debriefing.

"There's been a string of abductions in Olympia, Washington, going back 9 months. Blue-eyed, blondes, early 20s. This morning they found one." JJ clicked through the slides of victim photos.

"When were they taken?" Hotch asked.

"9 months ago." JJ clicked through more photos.

"So she was the first?" Emily asked.

"Yeah."

"Looks almost mummified." Rossi noticed.

"Uh, not exactly." JJ said, raising her eyebrows.

"Frozen?" Derek asked.

"Embalmed." JJ answered, earning surprised looks from the group.

"That's a new one." Rowan said, looking at the photos on the screen.

"So the time of death is a bit of a question mark right now." JJ informed.

"Where did they find her?" Hotch asked.

"In a state park just east of Olympia. Seasonal hiking area. The body was jarred loose during a mudslide. That, plus the abnormal decomp makes it difficult to know how long she was there."

"It says the victims were abducted about 3 months apart. He's rotating his victims out." Spencer added.

"There are gonna be more bodies out there. Wheels up in 30." Hotch determined and the team dispersed.

* * *

"So if I wanted to embalm a body, well, what's the process?" Emily asked, coming from the drink counter.

"Start with some nose plugs." Derek chuckled at his own joke. Rowan rolled her eyes, across from Derek and Spencer, next to Rossi.

"The blood is drained through the jugular vein And replaced with embalming fluid through one of the two major arteries. It usually takes a few hours." Spencer said. Rowan observed the way he talked with his hands. He caught her looking at him and she sent him a wink. A quiet flirtation. He blushed and averted her eyes for a moment.

"Then you'd need special equipment, training. Knowledge of the human vascular system would also be a plus." Rossi looked through the case file.

"A doctor, maybe." JJ shrugged.

"A nurse, technician, somebody with a background in mortuary sciences." Hotch suggested as well.

"Now, there's a major they didn't offer at my school." Derek threw in.

"Personally, the whole thing just seems weird to me. Embalming, I mean." Emily had an odd look on her face.

"Some people like to look good for their funeral." Derek defended.

"But it's not them. It's just a shell, polished and painted. I just want to be cremated." Emily concluded.

"The question is why somebody would embalm the body of someone they just murdered." Hotch inquired.

"He wants to hold on to them. It's a possession issue." Rossi said.

"He may have an attachment to them or whom they are surrogates for.' Rowan added.

"Maybe fear of abandonment speaks to his history." Derek suggested.

"But eventually even an embalmed body will decay and he finds himself in need of new victims." Spencer said, looking down at the victim photos.

"That explains the abduction cycle. A new victim every 3 months. Which means at least 2 of the remaining women are already dead. It's been 4 days since Brooke Lombardini disappeared following her shift at a local restaurant. We know the odds." Hotch placed her photo on the table in the middle of the group.

"90% of all abduction victims are killed within the first 36 hours." Spencer said, his voice low.

* * *

"Brooke worked the closing shift the night she disappeared. She would have walked this way to her car." The lead detective on the case, Foley, lead us in front of Brooke's workplace.

"Upscale restaurant?" Hotch asked.

"Well, let's just say that I don't go unless it's on someone else's dime." Foley admitted.

"What are you thinking?" Emily asked. Looking at Rowan and Hotch. Hotch looked to Rowan for an answer.

"Each of these women were taken as they left work. High-end spa, nice restaurant, jewelry store.  
If he patronizes these businesses, then he's got money. Unless the unsub has a job or connections at all three locations, which is highly unlikely, due to the distances between each location and the hiring requirements at high end establishments." Rowan spoke with confidence, earning a smile from Emily and a stern nod from Hotch.

"It narrows the profile a little." Hotch added.

"The cook said that he left just a few minutes after brooke. Saw her car there, driver's side door open." Detective Foley informed.

"He was quick. Surprised her. She probably never saw him coming." Hotch concluded.

"It says in here they recovered her necklace, amethyst, broken chain?" Emily asked as the group slowed to a stop.

"Right here, right next to the car. We processed it but we couldn't get anything off of it. Just some of her hair in the clasp." Foley informed.

"I'd like to take a look at it." Hotch requested.

"Yeah, well, I gave it back to her mother." Foley admitted.

"Isn't it a little premature to be returning evidence to the family?" Hotch raised an eyebrow.

"There were special circumstances. Brooke's mother, She hired someone. Guy by the name of, uh, Stanley Usher. He helped find a kid in portland a couple years ago." Foley informed.

"Private investigator?" Rowan asked.

"A psychic." Foley said, earning a look from the agents.

"What does that have to do with the necklace?" Emily wondered aloud.

"Apparently he can read personal things, their aura. I don't know." Detective shrugged.

"So what did he tell her?" Hotch asked.

* * *

Hotch had assigned Rowan with Derek and Spencer, to go to the ME's office, knowing she'd never had that experience before.

"Annette Hagen, Erin Bonham, and Melissa St. Claire, all embalmed." Spencer read from the case file. Rowan looked at the bodies of the 3 blonde women.

"That's the first 3. That leaves the Lombardini girl still out there." Derek said, also looking at the bodies.

"What's the COD?" Rowan asked, taking a closer look at the victim's faces.

"Blood loss." The ME responded.

"Blood loss? They were alive when they were embalmed?" Spencer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Looks that way. Tox screens show significant levels of barbiturate. They were sedated, maybe unconscious." ME responded.

"Guys, look at this." Derek pointed at all three victims. "They all have the same haircut."

"These are recent photos. These two had much longer hair at the time of their abduction."

"So the unsub cut their hair, possibly to fit the image of a surrogate." Rowan added.

"Something else he may have done. Their ears have all been double-pierced." The ME informed.

"Were they sexually assaulted?" Spencer questioned.

"Not exactly. There was no tearing or bruising that would normally suggest it. But I did find trace amounts of semen."

"You're saying it may have been consensual?" Rowan raised an eyebrow.

"No. She's saying the sexual assault happened post mortem." Derek said.

* * *

"I spoke to the families. None of the victims had double-pierced ears at the time of their abduction." JJ informed the group of agents as they gathered around the evidence board.

"Cutting hair and piercing ears." Hotch said, with furrowed eyebrows.

"He's changing them." Rowan sat on one of the table surrounding the evidence board.

"It's who, though?" Derek questioned.

"The burial suggests an affection for his victims. Which says he might be remaking them into the image of a loved one." Hotch crossed his arms. Spencer took a seat next to Rowan.

"The ME found high levels of barbiturate?" JJ asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Derek responded.

"Just, uh, something the psychic said. He said that brooke felt tired, heavy." JJ said.

"Why are we talking about the psychic? It's a scam. This guy talks without saying anything and you fall for it." Rossi sounded frustrated.

"Well, he said that Brooke's alive, so I guess I just want to believe him." JJ said, looking at the case file.

"We need to give the profile." Hotch declared.

"By now we know the dna found on the victims did not match anyone in the system, so we're gonna have to look beyond physical evidence to identify the killer." Hotch said to the group of officers and investigators.

"Our unsub is a white male in his mid to late 20s, and he has money. He lives alone, in a large residence." Emily began.

"With that being said, within the residence, there's enough space and ventilation to accommodate an embalming suite." Rowan added.

"He's awkward with people, especially women. An inability to relate socially is common in homicidal necrophiles." Hotch continued.

"Because of the alterations to the bodies, we believe the unsub is attempting to recreate a woman he once loved." Derek said.

"Like a girlfriend?" A detective questioned.

"Or a wife, a mother. Someone who left or died suddenly." Derek answered.

"This projection of the loved one coupled with his need to preserve the victims through embalming is similar to the psychopathology of serial murderer Ed Gein. Gein had an oedipal complex which developed in the years he nursed his paralyzed mother back from a stroke. After she died, his obsession compelled him to dig up corpses of women who resembled his mother. So persistent was his desire to resurrect his dead mother that He actually dressed in female suits fashioned from human skin. Eventually, gein grew unhappy with the flesh of dead bodies, Which had a tendency to dry and crack, So he shifted his focus to live victims whose bodies he could better preserve." Spencer informed the group from beside Rowan.

"The evolution from dead to live victims will also be mirrored in our unsub's maturation." Hotch crossed his arms.

"We've put together a list of incident reports prior to 2006. You're going to want to follow up on these.  
Now, they are inappropriate postmortem conduct, cadaver theft, and graveyard disturbances." Emily handed a file to the lead investigator.

"60% of necrophiliacs are in the death business, so be sure to canvass local cemeteries, mortuaries, and morgues." Spencer added.

"And since we have the killer's dna, we're gonna be sending you out with kits to swab potential suspects." Morgan held up swab kits.

"The odds of finding Brooke Lombardini alive are slim, But the quicker we identify the killer, the better her chances are. For her sake, let's work fast." Hotch said just before he dismissed the group.

* * *

The investigation took an odd turn after a distressed 911 call from Brooke Lombardini came in. Brooke's mother confirmed the voice. Garcia narrowed the location down, but not by much.

"Dave, I agree with you about psychics, But the fact is Sandra Lombardini positively identified her daughter's voice. We have to assume that that call was genuine." Hotch said.

"So what do we think? Why is the unsub keeping brooke alive? And how long do we think she has until he kills her?" Hotch began questioning the group to get some brainstorming involved.

"Maybe he needs them alive to effect their transformation." Spencer suggested.

"The change in the hair, the makeup, piercing the ears, that would only take a few hours.  
He's had her for almost 5 days." Derek said, knitting his eyebrows together.

"Ok, so maybe it's about something more than just appearance. Maybe it's something deeper.' Emily pointed out.

"On the phone she made it sound li she was being locked up, and she sounded drugged. These are control mechanisms used in cases of sexual slavery, mind control." Spencer said.

"They're being brainwashed." Rowan said.

"So he's trying to break her down, make her surrender her identity." Hotch said.

"That's what he's waiting for. That's the version of them he wants to hold onto." Rossi sighed.

"The longer she holds out, the longer she stays alive. And as soon as she accepts her new role, her fate is sealed." Hotch crossed his arms.

* * *

After a bit of digging from Garcia and some notes from Spencer's graveyard visit, a woman named Abigail Hanson popped up at the top of the 'Possible surrogate' list.

Rowan was assigned to go to the Gless family home, where Abby last worked before her sudden death, with Hotch and Rossi.

"I think about Abigail from time time. She was such a nice girl." Mrs. Gless said as the couple had a butler pour the agents some tea. Rowan sat between Rossi and Hotch.

"She was like one of the family." Mr. Gless added.

"Was that why you paid for the funeral?" Hotch questioned.

"She didn't have anyone else. She was from Holland."

"What kind of work did she do for you?" Rowan asked, taking a sip of the tea that was poured for her.

"She was the Au Pair. And there was some cooking and cleaning." Mrs. Gless said.

"She took care of the children? Rossi questioned.

"Just the one. Our son roderick."

"Here." Mr. Gless moved to a glass cabinet and pulled out a picture frame. "This is the two of them together. They were close." The father handed the photo to Hotch.

"She basically raised the boy." Mrs. Gless confessed.

"Well, I wouldn't go quite that far."

"No? What would you call it? Patrick likes to think he was a good father." Mrs. Gless jabbed.

"So, why do you want to know about Abigail?" Mr. Gless questioned, crossing his arms and ignoring his wife's statement.

"We believe that there may be a connection to some recent murders. Someone she knew."Hotch informed.

"How old was your son when Abigail died?" Rowan asked.

"He was 9. We weren't here when it happened. We were on a cruise." Mr. Gless took a seat.

"But Roderick was here with Abigail?" Hotch asked.

"When we returned, we knew something was wrong. The smell. They were in his room on the floor." Mrs. Gless started.

"He was Curled up next to her, with her arms around him. It's how he got to sleep."

"How long had she been dead?" Rossi inquired.

"The coroner said 2, maybe 3 days. I didn't have the stomach for the details."

"We'd like to speak to Roderick." Hotch requested.

"Well, if I knew where he was I'd be happy to tell you. But we haven't spoken for years. When he turned 21, he dropped out of medical school, liquidated his trust fund." Mr. Gless spoke.

"We knew he was troubled. But I had no idea he would ever hurt someone."

"They don't know for sure that he's- y-you don't know for sure?" Mr. Gless asked, almost frantic.

"When was your last communication?" Rossi asked.

"We got a letter about a year ago." Mrs. Gless moved to retrieve the letter and handed it to Rossi.

"Can we borrow this?" Rossi wondered.

"You can have it. And while you're at it, take this, too." Mrs. Gless handed Rossi the photo of Abigail and Roderick.

Further questioning lead the team to the location that Roderick was holding Brooke Lombardini. JJ had taken the letter given to Rossi by the Gless parents, to the Psychic. The psychic said that he'd be near a rocky shoreline.

That rocky shoreline turned out to be a brewery mural painting, within line of sight from Roderick's embalming room.

Brooke was found alive and taken to the hospital with her mother.

* * *

Back at the station, Rowan packed up the evidence board into a file box, to take back to Quantico once the department had gotten copies of everything. As she was unpinning papers, she felt someone move to stand behind her.

Spencer was careful to make sure they were the only ones in the room. He slipped an arm around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder, letting out a sigh.

"This was one of the happy endings." Rowan smiled at Brooke's picture as she unpinned it.

"I hear that Brooke is going to need cognitive therapy due to the drugs and being brainwashed into thinking she was Abigail, but physically, she'll be okay once the drugs have made their way out of the system." Spencer smiled.

"Hey, Hotch said the-" Rossi walked into the room, to find a slight display of affection between the two doctors. At his sudden words, they jumped and stepped apart. Rossi took in the sight of the two of them. Red cheeks and awkward stances. He huffed a laugh to himself.

"Anyway," Rossi began. "Hotch said the cars are ready to take us to the jet. You two almost done, uh, packing up the evidence board?" Rossi decided to poke a little fun.

"Yeah, just finished up." Rowan nodded, awkwardly. Spencer stayed quiet and avoided eye contact with Rossi. Rossi nodded and went to walk out but paused and faced the doctors again.

"You two are great together." Rossi flashed them both a smile before exiting the room.

"We've definitely been caught." Rowan tried to hold back laughter.

"At least it wasn't Hotch himself." Spencer shrugged and grabbed the file box as Rowan closed the lid.

* * *

Spencer and Rowan sat next to each other on the jet ride back to Quantico. Rowan, however, dozed off and curled herself into a ball on the seat. Spencer looked over to his girlfriend and found himself smiling at her like an idiot.

He saw her go bag sitting next to her and opened it to find her blanket that she always brought on cases. He let the blanket fall unfolded and covered Rowan's sleeping body with it.

He decided it was time for a cup of sugar with some coffee added. He stood to go to the drink counter and pour himself a cup. Out of his peripheral view, he saw a blonde blob headed toward him. He turned his head to see JJ, a big smile on her face.

"I'm gone for a little over three weeks and you get yourself a girlfriend while I'm gone." JJ folded her arms and leaned against the counter while smiling up at Spencer. He smiled as he stirred his coffee.

"Did a birdy named Rossi tell you that?" Spencer hid his smile.

"Actually, 3 little birdies named Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss." JJ confessed, earning a look from Spencer. "Morgan and Prentiss told me that you two were smitten the other night after the gypsy case."

Spencer sighed, "I knew they were watching us." He chuckled.

"I'm really happy for you, Spence. You seem happy already."

He nodded, looking past JJ's shoulder and grinning widely.

"She's everything I could ever ask and hope for."

* * *

I just wanted to thank all of you and apologize. I'm not really good at sticking to a schedule. Thank you for being so patient. I have done a lot of thinking and reading since I last updated, and I believe my next move is to rebuild this story, make it more of a slow burn. I do have one more chapter of this version completely written, if you'd like me to post the 'last' chapter, leave me a review and let me know! xoxo


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